Foreign Relations
by ghanimajade
Summary: This is an AU beginning in 2181, 2 years before Mass Effect, Cdr. Siddalee Shepard is assigned to a Turian Frigate commanded by Gen. Adrien Victus, to help relations between Humans and Turians. This is a work in progress and will span through to Mass Effect 3. Cdr. Siddalee Shepard Spacer, Adept, War Hero. Disclaimer: Mass Effect is a creation of BioWare I own nothing.
1. Chapter 1: The Assignment

_Author's Note: I have fixed the format from it's initial posting. Finally. This is my first posted story please let me know what you think of it. Feedback is very much welcome._

**Mass Effect  
**"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter One: The Assignment**

Cdr. Siddalee Shepard sat on the Alliance transport as it made its way to the Turian Warship _Lante_. The Alliance had practically twisted the arm of the Turian Councilor Sparatus to get them to take on an Alliance Officer to help relations between their species. The Turians agreed and there was really only one person in Anderson's mind to take on the responsibility, or the one person who could survive the hornets nest that was about to be stirred up, Cdr. Siddalee Shepard. Sidda, as she was called for short, had the Alliance in her blood, both of her parents were career Alliance and she didn't set foot on Earth until she was 15 years old. Living on starships as her parents went from assignment to assignment wasn't easy but it was a life she would never give up. She had an appreciation of other species' that was beyond compare. Enlisting in the Alliance was the next logical step for her and she excelled as an officer, a natural leader with a strong survival instinct. Sidda's major claim to fame, so to speak, was the Skyllian Blitz. She was in the right place at the right time and became the Hero of Elysium, repelling an overwhelming attack by Batarians bent on taking control of the colonies capital.

She looked out the window to the powerful Turian ship and couldn't help but feel a little nervous, why did Anderson send her on this mission? She was now temporarily assigned to The _Lante_. All she could think of was Anderson's advice before she left for Turian space. "Better bring you're A-Game."

She boarded the ship and was met by two Turian guards. Compared to the Turians, Sidda was a shrimp, she was about 5'6", fit, with long brown hair twisted up into a bun. Her eyes were a light brown that were green in different lighting. She carried herself with confidence, knowing she could handle just about anything thrown at her. "Cdr. Shepard, welcome aboard the _Lante_. Gen. Victus wants to see you in the CIC. If you leave your duffles here my men will take them to your quarters." One of them said and she nodded dropping the duffle over her shoulder then followed them to the CIC. She'd never seen so many Turians eye her as she walked by. This was going to be a long assignment.

* * *

The guards escorted her to the CIC where a tall Turian stood by the galaxy map. His skin tone was darker than the rest but the colony marking made his face almost completely white, this was the same marking the Turian Councilor had. He looked over at her and turned to give her his full attention. "Cdr. Shepard." He began looking her up and down. "Welcome to the _Lante_. I am Gen. Adrien Victus."

Sidda nodded to him respectfully. "Cdr. Siddalee Shepard." She introduced. "It's a pleasure to be here, General."

He returned her nod looking her up and down. Human's always looked so frail, they were small, heavier than Turians and the female of the species seemed weaker. Not that the males of the human species seemed stronger compared to a Turian but their women didn't have the heir of inherent danger. He'd read the file that was forwarded to him by the Turian Councilor. Just as a military mind she was magnificent, he would have to judge who she was but her actions, not her file. But he couldn't help but be impressed by the strong tactical mind embodied in a highly skilled Biotic. "You have an impressive file, Commander." He stated, noting noticable scars under her left eye and down her right temple. "Your actions on Elysium…excellent work."

Sidda gave a nod but said nothing surveying her surroundings, she saw another Turian with blue markings on his face, and his colony markings were more subtle than Victus' well defined white.

"Commander, this is my first officer Maj. Damar Maridus." Victus introduced and Maridus looked her up and down.

He extended his hand to her. "A pleasure to meet you, Commander." He said. "I've always wanted to meet the Hero of Elysium." Maridus was the same height as Victus but had a much darker face and green eyes, the face paint was a dark blue swath that went from one side of his face to the other but the color wasn't lost in the dark complextion.

She shook his hand and nodded to him, she was already tired of hearing that phrase but since it was really her only military feat she'd take it if the Turians respected her for it. "A pleasure, Major."

"Major, if you please, show the Commander around." Victus said he'd seen all he wanted to right now. Her actions would have to speak to her character from here on out.

Maridus nodded. "Yes, Sir." He said and gestured for her to follow him.

Sidda was trying not to show the nerves about a mission such as this. Being the first human to have a year long assignment to a, until recently, hostile species' ship was a big deal. "What, umm…what kind of ship is this, Major?" she asked and he glanced down at her as they walked down the corridor.

"The_ Lante_ is a Verck class frigate, has a crew compliment of 130, top of the line firepower, specializing in fast attack missions." He stated and she nodded, she was trying to feel out the crews feelings about this assignment, the best person to guage that from was the first officer.

"What do you think about this assignment, Major?" she asked and he tapped a door control to the lift then turned to look at her.

"Commander, this is a mission that should have happened years ago." He said and could see the surprise on her face. "If there is one thing the First Contact War, as your people call it, taught us was that our people were never meant to be enemies. We're too much alike. We don't give up."

The lift door opened and he stepped in letting that sink in for her. She stepped onto the lift standing next to him and clasped both hands behind her back. "I have a feeling I'm gonna like you, Major." She stated and the tall Turian gave a small chuckle.

* * *

Maridus stepped onto the CIC and quietly made his way over to Victus. Everyone had their concerns about this arrangement and they were well founded. Having a human onboard surrounded by Turians was a fight waiting to happen.

"Is the Commander settled in?" Victus asked knowing he was approaching him as he studied the data pad before him.

"Yes, Sir." Maridus replied standing next to him. There was a lingering silence from Maridus and Victus found that odd. Usually when he was quiet like this there was something on his mind.

"Speak your mind, Damar." Victus said, he'd groomed Maridus as he protégé for about 10 years and could read him like an open book.

Maridus let out a short sigh. "Sir, is this a good idea?" he asked. "If anything happens to her because of a grudge it could start another war."

Victus nodded understanding his hesitation. "I don't think it'll start another war but I understand your concern." He said and looked at him. "Make sure she stays in one piece."

Maridus nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard considering what's she's survived." He replied and heard an airy cackle from Victus.

* * *

For the next few days, Sidda was getting used to the ship and making sure the Turian's onboard knew she was there. That wasn't too tough since they all knew about the human exchange student they got. Everytime she ran across a Turian they looked at her sideways and gave her a wide berth. She knew that it would take time for everyone to get used to the situation but it was starting to get on her nerves.

Morning mess was just like any other ship she'd ever served on. Packed, noisy, a place everyone could talk before getting on with their day. Sidda didn't eat the food onboard, Dextro DNA food wouldn't kill her but it would sure as hell be uncomfortable. Anderson had sent a generous supply of human rations, the rations were not the best but it did the job. Rather than being anti-social she tried to befriend the crew, so far it wasn't working. She normally ate at a table by herself.

Sidda entered the Mess Hall and the room got quiet, she looked around suddenly feeling like she landed under a microscope but put her chosen rations for the morning on a tray and made her way through the line to get some water. She didn't want to appear uncomfortable but some could tell as she walked toward the table she normally sat at.

"Commander." A voice said from her right and saw Maridus gesture for her to come over.

She walked over to him and shook her head. "What? Do I smell? Do I have something in my teeth? What?" she asked and Maridus chuckled shaking his head.

"No, Commander, you smell fine." He said chuckling, gesturing for her to take a seat. "Please, join me."

Sidda sat down and looked at Maridus. "What the hells the matter with everyone?" she asked. "You'd think that they'd never seen a damn human before."

Maridus shrugged and could agree with some of what she said. "Well, you're human and that's part of it." He said as she opened her rations. The food wasn't readily identifiable to Maridus, hell not even to Shepard. It probably tasted like Chicken too.

"Yeah, well, what's the other part?" She asked paying more attention to her food than anything else, probably trying to identify it.

Maridus looked her up and down as she forked through her food. "You're a biotic."

She paused and looked up at him cocking her head. "So? What does me being a biotic have to do with anything?"

Maridus leaned forward. "Commander, let me ask you this; have you ever seen a biotic Turian?" he asked and she thought about that.

"Actually, no." she replied now listening to him completely.

Maridus made his case. "There are very few Turian's with biotic capabilities, but…their population is segregated. Turian's don't trust biotics they never have, not even our own people. Don't expect them to trust you…not even a tiny bit." He said and she never knew about any of this.

Now she had a thousand questions. "Why don't your people trust biotics?" She asked and he took a drink clearing his throat.

"Unit cohesion mainly." He replied. "During the Unification War biotic Turians were placed among the units as 'observers' and assassins this did not go over well after the War." He said and she leaned forward listening. "After the War the Heirarchy didn't trust the biotics and segregated them into their own colony. They're used as shock troops now." He explained hoping that what he was saying would help her.

She sat back in the chair and took all of that in. "That explains a lot." She said. "Thanks, Maridus."

"Damar." He replied and she looked at him cracking a smile.

"Sidda." She said with a smile and leaned forward to starting eating. "Glad I have at least one friend onboard." She muttered and Maridus chuckled.

"Just didn't want to see that pathetic look on your face anymore." He sniped as she took a bite of food and coughed on it.

She cleaned up the food bits and eyed him. "Don't know which is worse…your sense of humor or this food."

He laughed out loud and went back to eating. "Probably your food…it even smells horrible."

* * *

There had been a lot of negative talk among the Turians about Shepard, she was doing her best to fit in and hang with the Turians. It wasn't easy; they didn't know what to do with her, although she had earned respect from some of them the majority of them didn't really care about what her credentials were. She'd been onboard for about two weeks but it felt like an eternity.

Sidda spent a lot of time watching the Turian's spar, observing them was one way she could learn how to fight like them. She was very good at hand to hand as a human but had never gone up against a Turian. She eyed two of the recon scouts as they carefully battled it out, Turians closely monitored the sparring to make sure no one was injured.

"Who's next?" the Maridus asked and a young Lieutenant she'd seen before stood up. His name was Lt. Callus Nov; he was one of Victus' top lieutenants and a ground force leader. His face was almost completely red. She'd never seen Turian markings like that, she'd seen the red colony markings but not like this. "Alright, pick your dance partner, Nov."

"The human." He stated and Sidda looked up surprised.

The entire room turned to looked at her and she looked around still surpised about sudden challenge. "How 'bout it, Commander?" Maridus asked Victus' second in command was one of the only people onboard that didn't want her head.

She stood nodding, sink or swim time if they were going to hurt her it was going to happen. Her mission was to build relations with the Turians so showing that human's weren't weak was a hell of a way to show that. Her service record was one thing but that didn't mean a whole lot to the Turians. "Let's do it." She said and took her Alliance tunic off leaving her with just the undershirt, pants, and boots.

Her opponant was much bigger than she was and as she had observed Turians were exceptional fighters, light, fast, and strong. Nov attacked her and she blocked his attack like a human would, it was good block but it also got her knocked on her ass from Nov's other punch. His fist hit her gut like she'd been hit by a rock. She groaned in pain and made a mental note not to do that again. She returned his hit by attacking this time and used her size to evade him going under him and kicked him firmly in the back sending him forward. Nov didn't like that too much and went after her with renewed effort. He came at her hard and a friendly sparring match went one step further. She was hit quite a few times in the abdomen as she tried to block but fighting a Turian was not easy. He had her at a disadvantage and backing up when she lost her footing he added one final insult, a hard backhand to the left side of her face.

"_Keep her in one piece? That was supposed to be an easy job." _he thought to himself remembering Victus' standing order to him to keep her in one piece. "Nov!" she heard Maridus yell as his hit dazed the hell out of her. "That's enough."

"Go back to Earth, Human." Nov hissed, this comment earned a burning glare from Maridus.

She pulled herself up and shook her head to get her brain back into place. She tasted blood in her mouth that she spit out onto the mat. "You alright, Commander?" Maridus asked, watching her get up and shake off that match.

"You wanna fight, Nov, bring it on." She stated and Nov turned to look at her.

As entertaining as the new few minutes are bound to be, Maridus knew he needed to stop this before Shepard was killed. If she died during a sparring match he knew his head would be a trophy on Victus' desk for the rest of time. "Stand down!" Maridus barked and Nov froze in his tracks. "Commander, go to medical, get checked out. You took a pretty good hit."

Sidda didn't like his decision to end the fight, it made her look weak and that was not her intention. "Damar-…"

"Now, Commander." He stressed and she walked out.

* * *

In Medical, she was treated with kind of a loathsome distain, there was really nothing wrong with her. "What happened?" Victus asked; he startled her since she hadn't realized he walked in.

"General." She said and moved to stand but he waved her off.

"You took part in the sparring." He said and put his hand on her chin turning her face toward him so he could see the damage. "How did that go?"

"Not well." She replied. "You Turian's are some tough bastards."

Victus still didn't know what to do with her; she was interesting but still didn't know how to handle her. "When you are feeling able, Commander, would you join me in my cabin?" he asked and she thought about it for a minute, unsure exactly why he was asking.

"Uhh, sure…I mean, Yes, Sir." She replied and he was satisfied with that answer and quietly walked out. She watched him go and allowed a smile.

* * *

Sidda put on her very best, her sharp Alliance uniform, and made her way to the General's quarters. When she got inside Victus greeted her.

"Commander, thank you for coming." He said and she noticed food set up on the table. "I understand the food on board isn't tailored to suit a human, but our chef enjoys a challenge." He stated and she looked at the food. Looked kind of like a round steak with some vegtables she couldn't identify.

"Oh, this is perfect." She said and smiled to him. "I've been eating the human rations Anderson sent but…there's only so much of that stuff you can eat." She chuckled and he cracked a laugh too then gestured for her to sit.

"Please, have a seat, Commander." He said and then sat down by his dinner. "How are you feeling?"

She settled in the chair and picked up a fork glancing at him. "Sore…but I'll survive. I felt like that a lot after N7 training." She said and took a drink of the water, there was something up. He wanted something from her and he was doing a pitiful job of covering it up. "Alright, General, spill it. Why'd you call me here?"

Victus allowed a smile. "You're very perceptive, Commander." He said and she cocked her head. "Do you know the main reason I agreed to taking you onboard, Commander?"

"Drew the short straw?" she replied with a snort.

Victus allowed a laugh but shook his head. "I wanted to meet the officer responsible for the Skyllian Blitz." He stated. "Tell me about Elysium."

Sidda adjusted in her seat and looked away. People called her a hero but that battle was hard to talk about, a lot of stuff happened that she'd rather forget. "You read the file." She replied and he nodded.

"I did." He replied and leaned forward putting his elbows on the table. "But I want to hear it from you."

Sidda was quiet for a moment and took another drink of the water. "I was on Shore Leave." She said. "Then the Batarian's dropped in. They hit Illyria hard and fast, when the fighting started I found three Marines on leave from the _SSV Caledonia_. We rallied a resistance and set up a defensive line at the spaceport. We had control of the AA Guns and the Alliance said to hold that position." She explained sounding unhappy while talking about this. "There were 10,000 Batarians in that attack against three marines and me. In Earth's Anicent History there was a battle in a place call Thermopoli. A decimated Spartan Army of 300 held off a Persian attack of a million men. The Spartan army fought so hard that the Persian's lost their taste for fighting."

"Brave men." Victus stated, he was content to just listening to her talk. "What happened to the Spartan Army?"

She sighed and smiled to him. "Annilihated. But that is all that I could think of during that fight." She said and he continued to listen. "I set up a defensive line with the Marines; we armed the civilian police force in case any Batarians got past us. The Alliance told us to hold and they were on their way so all we had to do was survive until they got there. During the first wave the Batarians launched a missile in the defensive line…killed those three men instantly." There was a pause as Victus looked her up and down. As hard as her exterior was she could feel the pain of what she was talking about. He'd lost men too and understood where she was coming from. "Watching them die really pissed me off. They launched a second missile toward the civilians bunkered in the spaceport…I spawned a singularity and trapped it. Then I hit it thrown and sent it back." She said with a bit of growl sounding please with her work.

Victus cocked his head and smiled. "Impressive, Commander." He stated and she nodded.

"The biotics amplified the blast." She said. "Times two, one biotic missile destroyed the Batarians first wave, gave the Batarians a moment of pause as they tried to figure out how to beat a biotic that had one thing going for her…superior position." She stated, looking up at Victus. He was intent listening to her, there was something about him that she was attracted to. "The Batarian's kept coming; wave after wave I had to conserve ammo so I used biotics…probably saved us all." She said and Victus kept listening. "When Hackett arrived I was exhausted…I was shot twice, took a shrapnel hit." She said gesturing to the scar under her left eye and down her right temple. "They sent me to Medical on the _Agincourt_ and I didn't wake up for 16 hours." She finished and sighed. "When I woke up they called me a hero and gave me The Star of Terra."

"Commander, what you did is harder than facing a bullet. You were tasked with holding a key location that prevented the total domination of a colony." He said. "You may not be a hero in your eyes but you're most deffinitly a hero to those colonists."

Sidda knitted her eyebrows and cocked her head to him. His words actually made her feel better about retelling the story. She'd heard people tell her that before but hearing it from him just felt better. "Thanks."

He nodded to her respectfully. "You're a hell of an officer, Commander, I'm proud to have you here."


	2. Chapter 2: Proving Ground

**Mass Effect****  
**"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Two: Proving Ground**

An alarm was going off on the _Lante _and Sidda was making her way toward the CIC to find out what was going on. "General." She greeted walking onto the CIC. "What's going on?"

Victus was please to see her but went straight to business. "A Batarian Slaver ship just hit a Turian Transport vessel." He stated. "We've tracked the ship and prisoners."

"I'll have my team standing by and ready, Sir." Capt. Cerrus said but Victus shook his head. Cerrus was one of his other ground leaders, higher ranking than Nov but a little less tolerant of Sidda. His face was bare with only purple markings on his horns and the tips of his mandibles.

"No. Cdr. Shepard," he announced looking to her. "you will be in command of this operation." That statement made Cerrus, Maridus, and Shepard look at him shocked.

"Sir, no." Cerrus blurted, as his brain to mouth filter failed.

Victus glared at him. "Go, Commander." He said not looking at her but glaring down the Lieutenant that had spoken out of turn. "Cerrus, you go too. She is in command." He emphasized.

As they left Maridus moved over to him quickly. "General, this is a bad idea." He stated. "They don't trust her."

Victus was tired of dancing around this. "They'll learn." He said simply, his tone ended the conversation.

* * *

In the armory, Sidda shimmied around in her black and yellow N7 armor and blinked getting used to her Sentry Visor. She pulled a Turian assault rifle off the rack and checked it. It was heavy but she was familiar with it, the Phaeston was great weapon. "Sure you can handle that, Little Girl?" Cerrus asked in a hostile, mocking tone.

Cerrus like Lt. Nov didn't think too much of her. They didn't have a reason not to like her but she was a biotic and a human, quite possibly the worst combination there could have been. "Step in front, Cerrus, I'll show ya." She hissed back. "Let's go." she said to the unit.

If she screwed this up, Andersons little 'exchange program' would be finished. She could lead a team… that was no problem. Leading a team full of Turian's who, up to now, had mearly tolerated her was a whole other thing.

In the shuttle, she hovered over the terminal as Victus spoke. "Commander, the Batarians are aware you're coming, we're targeting their weapons but be advised: Check your targets, there are civilians onboard." Victus said and she nodded.

"I don't think the Batarians are going to be very happy when we kick down their front door." She stated and Victus scoffed.

"I think you know how to handle angry Batarians, Commander." Victus replied and she couldn't help but smile.

She turned to her unit. "Alright when we hit the airlock, cut and hack it. There's gonna be some pissed off Batarians but check your fire." She said. "Nov, I want you to take a team and sweep aft, clear a path for any prisoners we find to come back to the shuttle. I'll take a team and sweep forward and get control of the bridge. This is a small slaver ship but don't let that fool you."

"Two minutes, Commander." The pilot announced.

"Cerrus, stay here and guard the shuttle, make sure any prisoners get onboard." She said and he didn't like that. He was a ground leader, on of Victus' best.

"Hell, no!" he snapped and she looked at him, not really surprised about his response to her choice of assignment for him. "I am not a damn doorman."

Now was the time to assert her dominance, she knew what she would have done to a human who questioned her orders and a Turian was no different. In her experience, you didn't have to like the assignment you just had to do it. She learned that the hard way on Elysium, the hardest most brutal battle she'd fought to date. "Captain, you will follow my orders with a goddamn smile or I will shoot you right here!" she barked and he closed distance to her but she didn't flinch.

"Cerrus," Nov began moving to him. "I don't think she's kidding." He said and Cerrus looked down to her see her right hand on her Predator pistol.

Cerrus found a new found respect for the commander, he didn't like it but he backed off, her reputation preceeded her. Now that she was more than pissed off she set her jaw and felt a jolt from some turbulance as they approached the airlock. "Nov!" she barked. "Get the goddamn door."

The ship rocked as the docking collar met the airlock and the Turian shuttle forced its way in. Nov opened their side and hit several keys on his Omni-tool to get the Batarian door hacked. "Commander, I'm reading a lot of movement on the otherside of that door." The pilot said and she figured that.

"Alright, Gentlemen, here we go." She said taking the Phaeston off her back and readying herself.

"Commander, massive movement, they know where you've landed." The pilot said and she nodded.

"Nov, when the door opens stand clear." She said putting her rifle back on her back. The Turians looked at her confused, and then they saw both her hands glow biotic blue. "Everyone else fire when I tell you to." The door opened and true enough there were 10 Batarians stand on the other side. She unleashed her biotic power in the form of Singularity, trapping almost all of them in the field but followed that with her Unstable Warp that would detonate a biotic field on contact, the Warp blast hit the trapped Batarians and the resulting explosion sent them careening into the bulkheads. "Now!"

Her order was well received and the Turians opened fire, killing any stragglers that either escaped the biotic one two punch or survived it. The way was clear for now and Sidda stepped onto the Batarian ship.

"Not bad, Commander." Nov stated, sounding impressed with her work.

She allowed a smile and swept her rifle back and fourth then turned to Nov. "Better than a grenade." She replied and he could agree with that. "Alright, go." She said and he headed aft with his crew.

Sidda pushed forward with her team and followed the life signs that _The Lante_ had uplinked. As an Adept Biotic Sidda was trained to use mostly her biotics in a fight, she could shoot well and was a hell of a tactitican but close quarters combat was a bit of problem for her. She was nearing the bridge but had encountered light resistance, they were either massing at the bridge or back by the holding cells. If they were back by the holding cells Nov could be in trouble. "Nov, how's it coming?" she asked and there was a pause as the Lieutenant made time to answer the phone.

He ducked behind a bulkhead to evade bullets flying at his head. "Encountering some resistance, Commander, but we're getting them out."

"Commander, this is Cerrus. We're receiving the civilians." Cerrus reported and she nodded continuing to push forward toward the bridge. If she could get to the bridge she could hack the database and or take control of the ship.

She rounded the corner to get to the bridge and found a slew of Batarians waiting. They'd formed a defensive line and made her pause. "I think I just found the rest of the Batarians." She commented to the men with her. "You ready?" she asked putting her kenetic barrier up.

"Yep." The men she was with said and she sent a shockwave around the corner.

* * *

On the _Lante_, Victus and Maridus didn't stray far from the war room, they both wanted an update but Maridus questioned his Generals wisdom of sending her to a Batarian slaver ship. Not only that but the wisdom of putting her in charge. Maridus watched Victus, trying to judge his body language. If he didn't know any better he'd say the silence from the boarding team was worrying him. He'd never really been this intent on a mission.

Victus could feel Maridus' eyes watching him and looked up at him. "What?" he asked and Maridus sighed.

"Why did you send her?" Maridus asked and Victus sighed but it sounded a little like a growl.

"Not now, Major." He stated his tone ended the line of questioning.

* * *

Between her biotics and her teams well placed shots they really made short work of the Batarians on the bridge and she got to the control console. "Nov, report." She asked.

"Commander, we're clear back here." Nov said, she wasn't kidding when she said this ship was small. "We found the last of the holding cells. There are a lot of people down here, way too many for the shuttle."

She nodded and punched a few keys on the console to scan the ship for anymore surprises. "_Lante_, this is Shepard." She said and paused as the console completed its scan. "The ship is ours."

Maridus looked to Victus and nodded in acknowledgement to his right decision of putting Shepard in command.

"Well done, Commander." Victus replied into the open link.

"We need the _Lante_ to dock directly; there are too many civilians for the shuttle." She stated and Victus nodded.

"Understood, Commander." Victus replied and gestured to Maridus.

* * *

The armory was empty, with the exception those charged with maintaining it. Sidda was checking on her armor, the noticable black and yellow N7 armor was easy to spot within the Turian armor around it. She was tinkering with the Sentry Interface that made her armor function better.

"Commander." A voice said from behind her, she recognized it as Victus and spun around.

"General." She greeted slightly surprised to see him.

He gestured to the officers there to leave and they did so without question. "Commander, your reputation is well earned." He said. "You handled that operation yesterday extremely well." She heard this from him the day before and wondered where he was going with this. "I believe I found you a duty post, Commander." Sidda narrowed his eyes and looked at him, he was right, if she was going to be on this ship for a year she needed something to do that didn't involve being a punching bag for the Turians. "Lt. Nov has stepped down from command of Argos Unit and I am placing you in command."

She looked at him confused and surprised. "Why would Nov step down?" she asked.

"Apparently, he was very impressed by your command." He said walking toward her. "Something about a Biotic grenade."

She chuckled a little and looked down at the floor then back up to him. "Ahh, yes." She said making sure he caught her tone as playful not cocky.

"I also spoke to Cerrus." He said and his tone changed, obviously word of her 'Command Style' had reached Victus. "His opinion of you was less than kind."

Sidda shrugged and wasn't about to apologize for what she had said. "He questioned my orders. He won't do it twice. Men under me are either completely loyal or I have no use for them."

Victus nodded to her reasoning. "I understand, Commander, however please don't shoot my men. Whatever else they may be to you, I need them."

She looked away from him and nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"You will be in command of Argos Team; Lt. Nov will be your second in command." He said and she took the assignment.

"Thank you, General."

Victus turned to leave but paused looking over his shoulder to her. She was an excellent officer, hearing how she handled an insuboridnate told him she could handle this assignment and also earned more respect from him. "A word of advice…if they don't trust you they won't follow you. You mean nothing to them. You have to earn it, than they'll follow you anywhere."

Sidda looked at him and heeded his advice, Adrien was very popular with his crew and they were completely loyal to him. "Yes, Sir." She said as she watched him walk away.

* * *

Sidda was excercising by herself in the training room, she was going through motions of various forms of Martial Arts both trying to relax and keep sharp. "Commander." A familiar flanged voice said from behind her.

She identified it as Nov. "Lieutenant." She greeted not looking back at him.

Nov was trying to figure out how to act around her now. After his display a few days before that gave her the hand sized bruise on the side of her face. Her military prowess on the Batarian ship opened his eyes. "May I say something, Commander?"

Sidda paused and looked at him. "Go ahead."

Nov took a moment before saying anything. "I apologize." He said and she stood still studying him. "For the other day and the…" he said and gestured to the bruise on the side of her face.

Sidda went back to her excercising. "Its fine, Nov." she replied. "Don't worry about it. You beat me, fair and square."

Nov allowed a snort. "You have skill, Commander." He said and she stopped turning to look at him.

"Yeah, against humans." She said and he stepped up to her.

"May I?" he asked and she narrowed her eyes to him. "Your size is your benefit. We're bigger, stronger, and faster but you are small and agile. Try and stay out of our direct reach."

Sidda scoffed to his suggestion. "Thanks for the tip." She muttered.

"Go for the legs." Nov answered with a laugh.

Sidda was watching Nov as he showed her a few ways to improve sparring with Turians. Weak points on Turians were their legs, since they didn't have muscle like humans did they didn't have a layer of defense against an impact, also their bones were hollow like a birds, meaning they were easy to break if hit with enough force.

"Well, look at this." A voice said. They looked over and saw Cerrus; Sidda read his body language and could tell he was going to be a problem for her. "Don't bother, Callus." He said.

Nov turned toward Cerrus trying to head this off. "Tyr, don't. Come on leave her alone."

Cerrus glowered at Nov. "Shut up, Callus." He hissed. "One mission with her and Victus gives her your unit and suddenly you jump on her side." Nov was about to go toe to toe with his friend if he didn't stop talking but Sidda put a hand on his arm shaking her head. "How about it, Commander?" Cerrus hissed putting both hands on her and forcefulling shoving her back. "You want to shoot me now?"

Sidda may have been small, and human, and a woman but she wasn't about to back down from him. "I'm starting to wish I had, Asshole." She hissed back to him as he got in her face.

"Tyr, back off. Leave her alone." Nov said but it was pointless. Cerrus had challenged her and if there was anything they'd learned about her over the past few weeks it was Sidda didn't back down, even when it meant lots of pain in the near future.

"Allow me to teach you how to fight." Cerrus growled and fired a punch at her, Sidda's training took over and she blocked his swing with her left arm bring her right fist up to hit him hard across the left mandible.

That was it; her striking him started a fight that she never thought of. Cerrus exploded on her not holding back anything. Threatening to shoot him was part of his anger; gaining command of his friend's unit didn't thrill him either. She was a human. Who the hell did she think she was?

* * *

Victus made his way into medical and once again saw Sidda bruised and bloody, she never backed down from a fight so when the crew called her out for a sparring match she always accepted despite her woeful disadvantage. To her credit she didn't use her biotics; if she did his Turian crew didn't stand a chance. He was tired of seeing her banged up and bloody, that was not why she was here. He watched as the medical staff cleaned up her face and checked all her other injuries.

Victus turned to Nov and grabbed the front of his tunic yanking him toward him. "Why the hell didn't you stop it!" he barked.

"Sir, I'm sorry but she brought this on herself when she threatened Tyr." Nov said and Victus didn't like that answer. "General, in her defense I think she gave Tyr a moment of pause."

"She is not on board to be beaten on a daily basis, Lieutenant!" he scolded in a raised tone.

Nov wasn't stupid, he knew that, but he also knew that Victus never got this angry over a sparring match that went too far. He wasn't going to speculate why but the reason flooded his mind. Fear of retaliation from the Alliance was at the forefront. "Tell her that!" he defended. "All she's got to do is say no or back off. Even that wasn't going to work, Tyr was pissed there was no way he was going to let her walk away."

Victus shoved him back and turned away looking at Sidda through the window. "Where is Cerrus?" he asked in a low growling tone.

"In his quarters." Nov answered straightening his uniform out. "And he doesn't look much better than she does."

* * *

Cerrus was as bruised and beaten as Sidda was but he deserved every moment of it. He entered Victus' office and stood at attention. "General, you wanted to see me?" he said and Victus turned to the Captain. By the look of his face Sidda gave back everything he gave her.

"You better explain yourself, Captain." He stated and saw him stand at ease. "Who told you to stand at ease?" he growled and Cerrus immediately went back to attention. "Explain to me why Cdr. Shepard is in Medical right now."

"She's not as tough as she thinks she is." Cerrus stated and Victus' temper flared. Cerrus had an attitude and a reputation for being an ass.

Victus closed the distance between them getting inches from his face. "This is not a game!" he barked in his face. "She is an officer under my command and, until she leaves this vessel, your superior."

"General, she threatened to shoot me." Cerrus defended as Victus turned away from him.

"I don't blame her." Victus snapped turning toward him. "If you'd have questioned one of my orders I would have shot you."

"Sir, I-…" Cerrus started but Victus cut him off.

"Captain, it is very important to your future that you not finish that sentence." He said and Cerrus said nothing further. Victus was not someone to trifle with, and he believed him when he said he could have shot him. "You are an officer on this ship and you will act like it or you will no longer be onboard this ship. Do I make myself clear, Captain?"

Cerrus swallowed his lecture and thought it best not to fight with the General. "Yes, Sir."

"Dismissed." He ordered and watched Cerrus leave. The people he had onboard were all Special Forces, people he trained and handpicked. Cerrus was a phenominal tactician and a hell of a sniper, he'd had an authority problem since the academy but Victus had learned how to train him and deal with his bad attitude. Cerrus also had a problem with humans but Victus wasn't going to let that be an excuse for Cerrus, or any of his crew, to beat on Sidda.

* * *

Sidda looked like she had gone a few rounds with a heavyweight boxer. Cerrus did a great job trying to kick her ass but Nov put a stop to it before things got way out of hand. The fact that she didn't back down and never gave up earned her a degree of respect from the Turians, it was gonna be a hard year long assignment if she was going to feel like this every week. As she collected her breakfast for morning mess, Maridus got his first look her.

"Spirits." He stated as she approached then sat down across from him. "I hope you won."

Sidda gave him a mock glare and scoffed. "I gave it my best effort." She said and Maridus chuckled.

"Apparently that wasn't good enough." Maridus sniped and she snorted to his humor. "You look like shit."

Sidda liked Damar, he had a sense of humor that she enjoyed and reminded her of humans. "You wanna go, Damar, you just say the word." She said and Maridus laughed enjoying her banter.

Maridus shook his head looking at her. "You couldn't handle me." He stated with a cocky tone.

Sidda took a drink of her water and eyed him shaking her head to his statement. "You're that good huh?" she asked not buying his bullshit.

"I'm the best you'll ever have." He replied making sure his tone reflected a playful flirty tone.

Sidda laughed out loud and sat back in her chair shaking her head. "Oh my god, do you use that line on every woman you meet?" she asked.

Maridus shrugged with a chuckle. "Worked on my mate, although, to be honest she said the same thing." He said and Sidda cocked her head. She was surprised a bit to find out he had a mate, not because she was interested in him but she didn't peg him for the 'hitched' type.

"Mate?" she questioned and chuckled. "Any woman that can bear dealing with you as a mate is someone I need to meet."

Maridus put both his elbows on the table and looked at her. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked with a snort.

Sidda shrugged continuting with her terrible human ration eggs. "I like you, Damar, but you are a pain in the ass." She sniped; Maridus was pretty much her only friend on the ship. Nov was coming around and she didn't know about Victus.

Maridus dropped his fork and gazed at her. "I'm a pain in the ass? You've been onboard for a month and have already shaken the ship to its core." He said making her laugh and she tipped her water glass toward him with a smile. "What about you, Commander, do you have a mate?"

Sidda shook her head and gave up on the eggs that tasted like cardboard. "No. No husband…mate…whatever you want to call it." She said and pushed the plate away from her. "Never had time and, at the very least, haven't found the right one."

* * *

Sparring was the new favorite sport on the _Lante_; the problem was the Turian crew's new favorite target was Sidda. This was boardering on abuse and Victus wanted it to stop. The crew had begun betting on how long Sidda would last in a fight, she had gotten much better, picking up on several Turian moves. He'd seen her fight and was very impressed; he just didn't want to see her hurt.

There was more that he wanted from her and was frustrated with her over exuberance of pride that made her stand up and fight each time. The more he pushed her to stop the more she resisted and did it. In the hold the betting was getting together even though the only person that was for certain fighting was Sidda. If there was anything that the Turian's learned it was that she was as tough as they came.

Victus milling about on the deck was different; he was a typically quiet man, highly respected and popular. Sidda saw him hanging around but said nothing to him, she knew they were going to pick her to fight and she was up for it. She'd beaten one or two Turians but each time the crew had time to blow off steam in the Training Room they picked her as a sparring partner. She could refuse but her pride would take a hit if she did that.

"Alright, who's dancing first?" Maridus asked and Victus stepped up making the room cheer, Victus sparred with the crew before so it was nothing new.

"Cdr. Shepard." He stated and she blinked surprised he was calling on her. Sidda got up and looked at Victus with a puzzled expression.

"I'm not fighing you, General." She said and Victus wasn't playing, he wanted this to stop.

"Yes you are." He replied grabbing the front of her shirt and yanking her toward him. "Don't hold back." He hissed and shoved her back from him.

"Shit." She muttered under her breath turning toward Maridus and handing him her tunic. "Dear God, please prepare me for the ass kicking I am about to receive." She said quietly but loud enough for Maridus to hear. She saw him stifle a laugh and she groaned to herself turning around to face Victus.

Sidda wasn't thrilled about sparring with him, he was a general, and this was going to hurt no matter how you looked at it. He went after her and she backed up blocking his attack out of instinct. This was the same issue she had the first time she sparred with a Turian and it didn't go well this time either. He grabbed her arm with his other arm and yanked her forward hitting her hard in the middle of the back letting her topple to the ground.

Sidda got to her feet as Victus paced in a half moon shape waiting for her to get to her feet. She went after him again only employed martial arts, she kicked low to hit his leg but it was well blocked then she aimed high with a kick from the same leg. He caught her leg holding it and she twisted in his grip to bring the ther leg up hitting Victus hard along the right side of his face. He let go of her foot and she barely caught herself before doing a face plant into the mat. Her left knee hit the mat but she got to her feet.

Victus had to admit that was a good hit. He didn't stop and returned the favor and she did her best to defend against him. Victus was good, a confident man on the battlefield. Blocking his hits was the best thing to do since he hit like a brick.

This fight was getting intense and the crowd could tell one or both of them was going to spill out off the mat they were on. The more intense it got the harder it was for her to control her biotics; she skillfully attacked and weaved in and out of his strikes. Victus was impressed and so was the rest of the crew, but he scored a great hit with his right leg right into her chest knocking the wind out of her and shoving her backward.

That triggered it and they could see her body glow blue with biotics and before she could stop herself she punched Victus hard with a right handed biotic assisted throw punch. Victus was no match for biotics and he went flying backward into the wall.

The room was silent as they trid to figure out what they had just seen, did she just best the General? Biotic assisted or not, no one had gone that long against the General. She was panting hard and made her way over to Victus who was getting to his feet, before she got there she could tell he was ready for another round and attacked her pretty much tackling her. She fought him off but wasn't able to get to her feet before she grabbed him trying to beat him. He spun her around holding her right arm and planted a knee in her back making her scream in pain. Her body glowed blue but she'd had enough and her body knew it.

Sidda slowly got to her feet and the biotic blue glow dulled. She was finished and Victus could see it, he walked toward her holding his hands out in peace. "Alright, that's it…you're done." He said steadying her exhausted body, she was mad partly with herself and partly with him, she was also hurting. Sidda grunted shoved his hands away and making her way through the spectator crowd under her own power.

They gave her a wide berth showing a new respect for the human as she walked past them. She could feel blood draining from her nose and felt brusies developing everywhere. She still had a slight blue glow about her as her defensive guard was still up.

* * *

Sidda was in her quarters after being checked out by medical, nothing was broken but she was going to be sore. She took her shirt off inspecting the bruising on her back. Victus clobbered her good; he was damn good at hand to hand. Her door chimed and she absentmindedly spoke, inviting whoever it was in. "It's open."

Victus walked in and his pace slowed as he saw her with her shirt off, she had a black bra on and just her pants, no shoes. "I apologize." He stammered. "I can come back."

She turned and waved him off. "No, no. It's okay." She said and gingerly reached down for her shirt. "I was just checking the damage."

Victus looked at the brusing and felt responsible. "I am so sorry, Commander, I let that get out of hand."

She slipped back into her shirt and shook her head. "No. Don't be, I'm okay. I should be asking you if you are okay, I hit you with a pretty forceful throw punch." She asked noticing he had a bottle in his hand. "What's that?"

"Turian Brandy." He replied. "Care for some?"

Sidda nodded. "Yeah, actually, I'd love some." She said and he removed two glasses from the desk pouring the drinks.

"Commander, I have never been so challenged in a sparring match." He said handing her a glass and taking one for himself. "You truly are magnificent."

A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. "Sidda. Please."

Victus took a sip as she did but never took his eyes off her. "Sidda." He repeated quietly but she could read his tone. There was something between them that more than just mutual respect, she'd never felt her heart beat that fast.

She tapped his glass, indicating a silent toast and sipped the Brandy. It was sweet, like honey, she'd never had Turian Brandy before, hell she hadn't really eaten anything Turian before. Victus was sweet; she'd never met a Turian that she liked that much. The idea of sparring with him turned her on; he was the perfect specimen of a Turian male. "Why did you do that?" she asked referring to the sparring throw down.

"They would have continued to beat on you until they broke you. I didn't want to see you in Medical again. I challenged you to end that. Losing to me earned you their respect. I am their commanding officer and you almost beat me." He said.

She cackled. "I didn't almost beat you, General." She said and he took a drink of the Brandy.

"Closer than you think." He replied. "And call me Adrien." His body language was speaking volumes to her; there was a spark…hell a brushfire between them.

Sidda put the glass down and moved toward him and few steps. "Why do you worry about me so much?" she asked and his hardened exterior began to show he was nervous. He closed the distance between them looking in her light brown eyes.

He put his glass down next to hers. "I…uhh…I've grown very fond of you, Sidda." He said deciding not to dance around this. She felt her heart flutter and brought her left hand up to lightly touch his mandible.

Victus was surprised at her mutual effection for him. "So have I, Adrien." She said and he brought his right hand up to take her left hand. He stepped toward her and made his intentions known, the sexual tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Victus put his left hand on her shoulder and pulled her toward him smelling her neck. Her scent was intoxicating and his primal urges were starting to take over, it had been so long since he'd even looked at another female, even a Turian. She caught his mouth in a kiss and wrapped her arms around him.


	3. Chapter 3: Shenanigans

**Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Three: Shenangins**

The beeping of Sidda's alarm clock sounded like a freight train in her head as she opened her eyes. The room was dark but whatever light there was amplified her headache. She groaned and found herself face down in the pillows wishing she'd kept her eyes closed. "Oh my God." She groaned out, the Turian Brandy packed a punch. Sidda reached for the clock to shut it off. She made it silent and collapsed back down into the soft pillow.

She could feel her right hand on Victus and the events of the night came back all at once. She'd never had sex with an alien before; she didn't even know if it was possible between humans and Turians. Now she knew, not only was it possible but it felt damn good too, whatever Victus did felt extremely good. It took some trial and error but it was fun getting there. The Brandy, however, it went straight to her head now she had a hangover worse than any she'd ever felt. She rolled over and the movements made her head throb. Victus chuckled as she put her palm on her forehead with a groan.

"How was the Brandy?" he asked quietly and she moaned.

"Oh, shut up." She replied and he chuckled some more. "That stuff's sweet going down but not very friendly in the morning."

He ran his hand over her body and very gently over the bruises he caused during the fight. "I didn't mean to hurt you yesterday."

Sidda gently moved her head over to look at him. "Adrien, it's okay. I'm tougher than I look." She said as he ran his hand back up her body to her face.

Victus was learning more about her every moment. "I know that." He said and rolled onto his side hovering over her. "I'll never hurt you again."

Sidda believed him when he said that and smiled lightly touching the side of his face. She traced her fingers down the right side of his face then down to his shoulder. His skin was tough but not as rough as she thought it would be. It was a bit rough when there was friction involved, she felt a little chafing on the inside of her thighs but she'd take care of that later. He ran his right hand down her soft and smooth skin to her most sensitive area, the area he spent a lot of time in and around all night long.

His touch in her nether regions made her twitch. She put her arms around him and pulled him closer to her kissing his neck. Things were about to go to the sexy, steamy side like the night before and they were both fine with that.

* * *

Sidda stepped into the CIC and found the eyes of every Turian on her; she went toe to toe with their commanding officer and not only survived but damn near beat him. She used a biotic assist but being that she was human she was already at a disadvantage, using everything in her arsenal was resourceful…not cheating. She was bruised and moving slow but appeared to be okay.

"Commander." Maridus greeted looking her up and down. "Hell of a show yesterday."

"Not really something I want to repeat. Gen. Victus knows what he's doing." She stated and Maridus nodded.

"You don't get to be a General without knowing how to handle yourself in a fight. But you hung with him, remarkable for a human." He said and realized what he said could have been offensive to her. "I'm sorry, Commander, I meant no offense."

She shook her head with a smile and waved her hand. "None taken, Damar, don't worry about it." She said and he extended his hand to her and she shook it.

Maridus picked up on something, Turian's had a heightened sense of smell and as she walked by he caught it more. He turned watching her as she left and everything dawned on him. He walked after her and got close to her, smelling it more. "Commander, can I speak with you?"

She was startled at his sudden appearance and stopped walking. "Uhh…yeah…yeah." She said confused and he led her to the conference room that had no one in it. Sidda looked at him puzzled at his behavior. "What's up, Damar?"

Maridus was a straight forward officer and he and Sidda got along well. Unlike most Turian's on board he didn't need her to prove herself, she did that on Elysium. Her actions in a firefight that long and brutal were all he needed to see what kind of officer she was. He huffed and made a mental note to drop this bomb on Victus when he saw him next. "You and the General." He stated. "I know…" she had a terrible poker face and he spared her the question. "I can smell him all over you."

She hadn't thought of that, romancing a Turian all night long meant his scent was all over her. Obviously that slipped Adrien's mind as well. "Is it that obvious?"

He shrugged. "Well, the rest of the crew might chalk it up to the beating you two gave each other but I know better." He said standing relaxed. "So, unless you want to bathe often, I suggest you two spar… a lot."

She took in a deep breath and nodded. "Right." She said and smiled to him. "Thanks for the heads up, Damar." She added and walked past him then paused before she left looking back. "You knew…even before this."

"Perceptive, Commander." He said. "But I knew the day he laid eyes on you." Maridus added and walked out before she did.

Sidda watched him leave and let that sink in.

* * *

With the news that every Turian would be able to tell her extracurricular activities with Victus, Sidda made her way down to one of the training rooms. "General, can you meet me in the Training Room?" She asked into her Omni-Tool. There was a pause and Victus replied.

"Okay." She heard, his simple reply with that deep voice was enough to make her smile.

In the Training Room she walked back and forth on the mat thinking, she had deep feelings for Victus, which was obvious but this was odd for her because she'd never had a steady man in her life, growing up on one starship after another was a hard life. Her parents were both Alliance so it was assignment after assignment, not every place had a lot of kids her age. The Academy wasn't much better; her work ethic was hard to deal with. It was drilled into her by her Admiral father, sure she had a few flings but there was nothing steady. Finding out she had feelings for a Turian was more than a shocker for her.

"Sidda." Victus greeted walking into the empty room, he was a little afraid of how she would react the next day. Last night was perfect and he would love nothing more than to repeat it as often as possible. Sidda was an amazing woman, someone he wanted around for a long time.

"Hey." She greeted with a smile but he kept his distance. "Umm…Maridus figured it out." She said and he cocked his head.

Victus figured it out fast and nodded. "The scent." He put in and she nodded to him. "I'm sorry."

She moved toward him and put her hands on his chest. "Don't apologize, last night was perfect." She said and he looked down at Sidda, she was attractive and he couldn't help but think of the night before. Sidda was getting turned on again, she wanted another night with the Turian and wanted to play right now, she pushed him back and set herself up in a fighting stance. Victus looked at her puzzled but picked up on her playful attitude.

Sidda fired a kick with her right leg at him and he put his back toward it grabbing her ankle with his right hand and her throat with his left hand. He pulled her close to his face looking her up and down. There was a low purr from him as he enjoyed sparring with her. "You've got a lot to learn." He stated and she glared at him making him laugh in a low tone.

She put her hands on his shoulders and pulled herself close to him pressing her body to his. Victus removed his left hand from her throat and placed it on her right knee as she bent her leg around him. The sexy, erotic nature of this increased as his hand traveled further up to the curve of her ass.

"_Gen. Victus to CIC. Gen. Victus to CIC."_ Maridus' voice said over the intercom.

Victus was still purring, or at least giving off a non-hostile growl as he looked down at the human female who was playing to his sex drive. "My quarters." He stated and brought his right hand up to her chest lightly tracing a talon over her breasts. "Tonight." He finished and she uncurled her right leg from behind him letting him attend to his business.

* * *

Sidda spent most of her day talking to the two ground units onboard. As an Adept she didn't have much to bring to the table compared to an Engineer and Turian Biotics were few and far between so she relied on her other skills. Both Anderson and Hackett agreed that she was the most brilliant tactical minds they had ever seen. Her show on Elysium proved that she could handle herself in a fight and Victus knew that. So he had her work with the ground teams to teach tactics that would improve the capabilities of Argo and Centaur units.

Some of the strategies and tactics she taught them didn't sit well with the Turians; they were comparable to the ancient Roman Empire on Earth.

"Commander, how'd you beat the Batarians on Elysium?" Sgt. Pelonis asked, he was on Centaur team commanded by Cerrus. Cerrus was about the most annoyed Turian on the ship, he could think a thousand other things he'd rather be doing than listening to Sidda right now. However, as annoyed as he may have been the warning given by Victus rang through clear as a bell**;** he attended but said nothing to her and grudgingly listened.

"A lot of fucking luck." She replied. "The only thing that saved me was an elevated position. I was ordered to hold the spaceport so I held it. Didn't seem like I had a choice in the matter so I just did it."

"_Cdr. Shepard, message coming in from the Systems Alliance."_ A voice said through her omni-tool.

Sidda tapped the flashing button and acknowledged it. "Understood."

She made her way to her quarters and tapped her private terminal to see who it was.

"Shepard." Anderson said as he appeared on the screen.

Sidda allowed a smile. "Anderson." She greeted. "How are you, Sir?"

"Fine, Commander, just checking in and seeing how the assignment is going." He said and saw the healing bruises on her face from her squabble with Cerrus. "Damn, what the hell happened to you?"

Sidda chuckled. "Training with Turians, it can get a little intense but its fine." She said. "It's not like a human ship but I'm learning a hell of a lot."

Anderson nodded, pleased to hear that. "Glad to hear it, Commander. We haven't received any reports from the ship commander so I wanted to check in."

Sidda snorted. Victus didn't like being **c**haperoned and was known for doing things his own way**.** If he wanted to send a report he did it, most of the time he didn't. "Gen. Victus is a hell of a Commanding Officer, Captain."

"Keep yourself in one piece, Shepard. I'll check in later." Anderson replied and Sidda nodded then the screen went black.

* * *

Sidda remembered to shower this time, spending another night with Victus was even better than the first night. They were both still learning how to please the other but it was working out fine. The rumor was that ingestion of the others DNA could have drastic consequences but they were slowly testing that rumor. For as predator like as Turian's were Victus was surprisingly gentle and contrary to the crew's popular beliefs he had a sense of humor. She entered the mess hall with her terrible human rations and followed her normal routine collecting water and utensils.

"Good morning, Commander." Nov greeted, appearing next to her grabbing the same things she was. His food smelled good but most definitely didn't look good. '_To each their own._' she thought.

"Morning, Lieutenant." She replied.

"Missed you at Mess yesterday, how are you feeling?" he asked and she looked at him wondering if he knew the same thing that Maridus knew. Could he smell him on her? Or did Maridus open his big mouth? Without knowing she decided to try and play it as cool as possible.

"A little sore but I'm okay." She said and Nov nodded.

Nov could understand that. "I have to say, Commander, I am impressed. The General is the top rated hand on the ship; you lasted longer than anyone else I've ever seen."

Sidda's mind was currently occupying the gutter so everything Nov was saying had a double meaning or some kind of human innuendo. She said nothing as they walked over to the table that Maridus was at. "Lasted long enough." She muttered under her breath.

"Good morning, Sir." Nov greeted, Maridus didn't even acknowledge that two more people showed up at his table. Nov sat down next to him and Sidda across from him. Sidda cocked her head to him as he was looking intently at a datapad lying on the table.

"Damar?" she questioned when he didn't reply to Nov's greeting. "What do ya got there?" Maridus still didn't answer and Sidda raised her eyebrows, from what she could see it was written in Turian so she didn't have a hope in hell of reading it. She looked to Nov, puzzled then they both looked to him. "Uhh, Damar…" Sidda said as Nov stood up slightly to look over his shoulder at the datapad. "Hello."

Nov realized what it was and sat back down. "Oh, he got a letter from Solana." He stated with a teasing tone. "You'll see him like this every few weeks. She'll send him a letter, he'll obsess over it then he'll be back to his normal, charming, self."

"Solana?" Sidda asked. She assumed it was the mate he had spoke of but asked the question anyway. "Who's she?"

Maridus was still lost in the letter but could hear the conversation around him. "Solana is his lovely mate. Sister to his best friend and let me tell you that was an interesting conversation when he told her brother." Nov stated and Sidda chuckled.

"What about you, Callus? Do you have a lovely Turian female pining away for you on Palaven?" she asked and Maridus joined the conversation.

"Oh, Spirits, no." he scoffed, returning his attention to what was left of his breakfast. "Callus is into Asari."

"Beautiful blue creatures." Nov added with a dreamy tone.

Sidda looked from Nov with a chuckle to Maridus. "What? You don't like Asari, Damar?" she asked as she finally started to tear into her packaged food.

He scoffed again and shook his head sharply. "I don't do tentacles." He replied and Sidda laughed out loud.

"And you, Commander, do you have a mate back on Earth?" Nov asked. Maridus already knew the answer to that and knew of her extracurricular activities involving Gen. Victus.

Sidda shook her head to answer Nov's question. "Why don't you try a Turian, Sid," Maridus said looking at her with what only could be described as a Turian smirk. "might find someone you like."

Sidda's glare could have killed him but Nov didn't pick up on the hostile thoughts Sidda was thinking toward Maridus. "Commander, I volunteer." Nov stated and Maridus choked on the next best thing to Turian coffee.

Sidda laughed as well but felt a slight blush to Nov's comment. "Romantic, Callus. Very romantic." Maridus said looking over at him. "It's a wonder you don't have females lining up outside your quarters."

* * *

The_ Lante_ approached the dock for Turian military station _Zinith_. The _Lante _had been caught off guard by an Ion storm which was an added insult to injury after the ship had already been hit by a massive solar flare that fried a few systems. Now they had been gingerly making their way to the closest station. That was _Zinith_ Station, a hot spot for crews coming in to take some leave. Not Victus' first choice but he didn't have much choice in the matter.

"_Zinith_ Station, this is the _PFS Lante_ requesting permission to dock for repairs." Maridus stated as Victus looked on at the massive space station filling the windows.

"_Permission granted, Lante."_ The traffic controller stated in a quick reply. "_Welcome to Zinith Station Gen. Victus."_

Victus cocked his head slightly; everyone knew this was his ship. The_ Lante _had been at the forefront of many battles with Victus in command and he'd become a bit of legend. "Zara, bring us in nice and steady." He said to his helmsmen.

"Yes, Sir." She replied not looking back to him. The ship had been acting funky due to the damaged systems and helm didn't escape. The automated systems worked but fritzed in and out on occasion.

Almost an hour after the ship docked, Victus had techs from the station on board and going through all the problems the ship had been having since its close encounter with a Solar Flare then the double whammy with an Ion Storm.

"Estimate on repairs, Sir?" Maridus asked as Nov stood not far behind him.

Victus groaned, he'd rather be anywhere else besides supervising repairs to his ship. "Two days." He replied and got the sense Maridus wanted to ask something else.

"So…uhh…you don't really need me and Callus onboard right?" he inquired and Victus paused from looking at the datapad and then looked at his first officer.

"Why?" he asked and Maridus glared at him, he thought the reason would be obvious.

"What do you mean, why? We haven't had leave in over a year." He stated and Victus simply went back to his work. "General, please."

Victus turned to the pleading duo and sighed looking from one to the other. "Alright, fine…two days." He stated and they both started bouncing like children. "But if I have to come get you two out of the brig like last time the two of you will never see leave again. Ever."

Maridus and Nov snapped to a salute. "Yes, Sir." They said in unison barely able to contain themselves.

Victus looked at them and shook his head to their antics, just like his son. "Get out of here." He said trying not to laugh at them. "Have fun. Stay out of trouble."

* * *

The ship was a quiet, most of the crew was on the station in a matter of hours. Sidda sat in and chair with her feet propped up on the counter reading a paperback book she'd picked up along the way. It was a book written long ago by Patrick O'Brian called _Master and Commander_. The quarters she was in were not her own, she would rather be around Victus so she was sitting at his desk. The door opened and Victus walked in not even noticing Sidda at the desk, he was on a mission and headed to the bed area to deposit a few articles of clothing he didn't want anymore. He was more than irritated with his ship being laid up and having to supervise it.

Sidda eyed him, he didn't even acknowledge her presence hell she didn't think he even saw her. As Victus headed back in her direction he looked up from the datapad and froze. "How long have you been there?"

Sidda raised her eyebrows. "I could have killed you." She replied.

He grumbled and walked over to her. "What are you doing onboard? The rest of the crew is on the station." He asked leaning on the desk she had her feet on.

Sidda shrugged. "Turian station seems like a place I can get into a lot of trouble." She replied and closed the book taking her feet off the desk. "Rather spend some time with you."

Victus looked down at her and traced his right hand down the side of her face. "Don't bother. I'm stuck supervising the repairs. Go to the station." He said and stood up to prevent himself from acting on any of his urges. "I'll call Maridus; tell him to keep you out of trouble."

Sidda chuckled. "I don't need a chaperone, Adrien." She stated standing up.

Victus allowed a scoff. "Never said you did."

* * *

Maridus and Nov made their way to the docking level to find Sidda; she was going to take 48 hours leave on a Turian Space Station and this was going to be a leave for the books. Sidda was getting a lot of strange looks and figured she was the only human on the station.

Nov and Maridus quickly move up next to her, one on each side. "Sidda." Maridus greeted. "Welcome to _Zinith_." Sidda was startled by their sudden appearance and smiled. "Ready to have some fun?"

Sidda eyed them; their behavior was that of children right now or frat boys, she didn't know which was worse. "I don't know. What did you have in mind?"

The station was a bit like The Citadel but smaller, there was everything on the lower level of the station that the soldiers on leave could want. Oblivion was the stations bar and a source of major headaches for the stations security. It was almost exclusively patroned by Turians but the odd Asari could be seen, mostly as dancers and bartenders.

Sidda looked around the entrance of the bar and tried not to panic. There were more Turians then she had ever seen in her life. "Really, Guys?" she stated a little annoyed and surprised. "A Turian bar? Are you trying to get me killed?"

"You'll be fine, you're with us." Maridus said and that didn't make her feel much better.

"Oh yeah that makes me feel much better." She droned. "Everything in this bar can kill me. Them. The drinks. You two." She added and walked with them across the floor to the bar. "I can't drink anything here. If I have more than two glasses of Brandy I'm on my ass."

Nov patted her back as they stepped up to the bar. "Then pace yourself, My Sweet." He stated earning him a glare from Sidda.

There were a hundred different ways she saw this ending and the majority of them were bad. She'd never felt so damn outnumbered, Victus would kill them all if she got hurt. The Turians at the bar stopped and gazed at her, this station had probably never seen a human on it.

"Three shots of Brandy." Maridus ordered from the Asari bartender. The bartender poured the shots and the three of them lined up to knock them back. "Loosen up, Sid." Sidda decided to fuck it and let whatever that was gonna happen, happen. She knocked it back and felt the sweet honey taste go down smooth. Sidda closed her eyes; she could feel the dextro Brandy giving her a buzz already.

"Ohhhh…that's good." She stated and Maridus chuckled.

The night was progressing better than she thought; most of the Turians didn't really have a bad opinion of her. Pacing herself on drinking wasn't working out too well but she was still in control of her facalties. She spent most of her time drinking with Maridus; Nov had disappeared to chase some Asari dancer leaving the two of them at the bar with a few other Turians from the _Lante_.

Nov could hold his alcohol but had to admit the stuff he had been drinking was taking over, his eyes were on a beautiful Asari dancer he'd been staring at since they got there. "Hello, beautiful, why don't you give me a private dance." Nov stated grabbing her arms lightly and trying to be as smooth and charming a bad boy as he could. He was drunk so he was succeeding in coming off as a bad boy but not at all smooth. "Come on, Sweetheart, tell me your name."

"Morra." She replied giving into him but still not wanting to give him the private dance he wanted.

"Morra." He purred and continued to try and get her to pay more attention to him. "Come on, beautiful, just one dance."

"Hey, leave her alone." A Turian of equal height barked at him grabbing his shoulder and spinning him away from her. The Turian had a light face but not colony markings, normally Nov didn't care about barefaced Turians however he was intoxicated and had a tendency to be a drunk with a short temper.

Nov staggered a little, his balance compromised by the alcohol he'd been knocking back. He caught himself and stepped up to get into the other Turian's face. "Why don't you mind your own business, you Barefaced Bastard." He growled.

His opponent took offense to his insult and hit Nov hard with a punch to the left side of his face. Nov stumbled to the right from the force of the hit and landed in the clutches of a few more Turians that were obviously not on his side. They held both his arms as Nov got his feet under him though still dazed from the anvil-like hit from Bareface. "Barefaced?" his opponent hissed. "Barefaced? You outer colony, Son of a bitch." He punched Nov hard again on the left side of his face and would have gone three for three but Nov wasn't a push over even when his arms were trapped. Instead he dug his talons into the clothing of the ones that were holding him and brought both legs up kicking the barefaced one right in the teeth with his right leg and used his left leg to send him flying backward with a forceful kick. Now that his claws were dug into the poor bastards holding him he closed his grip and threw the one on his right side forward on top of his buddy accented by a growly roar and spun into the one on the left kneeing him in the torso.

This fight was progressing into a full on brawl as more began to attack Nov. He was holding his own ducking and dodging but wound up ducking and dodging right into the barefaced Turian with a bloody mouth now.

Maridus could hear a scuffle taking place in the lower area of the bar and looked on to see what was happening. He stood up straight when he saw Nov being held by his throat. He tapped Sidda's shoulder and gestured to Nov's current problem.

"Hey!" Sidda barked as they got closer and saw a knife in the picture being held on Nov. "Let him go."

Now they found something else to beat on. What was a human doing in Oblivion? "This is no concern of yours." The barefaced one stated.

Sidda and Maridus got closer. It may have been the Brandy talking but she was not leary of this asshole at all. Whatever Nov did to piss them off was irrelevant to her, he was her friend and she'd be damned if she was gonna sit back and let them kick his ass. "Let him go and you walk out of here alive. Touch him again and I'm gonna shove that knife right up your ass."

Both Nov and Maridus looked over to Sidda, that was a bold threat and hopefully she could back that up if this went ass up. "Really?" the barefaced one said curious about her now. Not curious in a good way, she challenged him. He practically dropped Nov and turned his attention to his new target, Sidda. "I can think of a few things to shove in your ass…or other parts of you. You're pretty for a human…wonder what kind of a fuck you'd be."

Maridus and Nov, again, looked at eachother. Sidda didn't let that comment slide but she didn't act on it right away. This was going to be a fight for the ages. She reached down to the table next to her picking up two glasses full of god knows what and handed one to Maridus. She raised the glass to him and downed it quickly. Sidda balled up her right fist and spun giving him a right hook with a ton of force behind it. Nov and Maridus jumped in and the within seconds the whole bar was embroiled in a good old fashion bar fight.

* * *

Sidda had way too much to drink, her head was pounding and she felt like whatever she had on her stomach was about to be all over the floor. "Oh, my god." She croaked out squeezing her temples with her palms.

"Oh, oh, she lives." Nov stated as she gave up trying to move and stayed on the bed.

Where the hell was she? Did they stagger back to the ship? If that was the case what the hell was Nov doing in her quarters. "Where the fuck are we?" she asked. Every movement and even breathing made her head throb.

Maridus sighed from his position on the bunk on the far side of the room. "You, me, and Callus are in the Brig." He stated his tone reflecting how much trouble he knew they were in.

The throbbing made her feel like her brain was going to blow out her ears. "Oh…" she groaned opening her eyes to look around. "how the hell did we wind up in the brig?"

Maridus huffed as Nov sat down on the edge of the bed Sidda was lying on. "Well, you know. Callus hit on an Asari dancer, got into a fight with her Turian mate, you and I went over to pull him out, a few more Turians insulted you, assaulted you, threatened to have their way with you, you and I downed a double shot of whatever the hell we were drinking and started a fight."

"The General is gonna kill us." Nov stated leaning forward putting his elbows on his knees. "I'm gonna be scrubbing the deck with my tongue for the rest of my career." He droned and Maridus scoffed to him leaving out the 'we' in that statement.

"Not just you. You're not the one who sees him every morning in the CIC, I'm gonna be doing shit work for the foreseeable future." Maridus grumbled and Sidda brought her left leg up at an angle to get more comfortable.

"What are you two so worried about? It's not like Victus hasn't landed in a bar fight before." She stated and Maridus shrugged, she was right about that.

"Oh, no, the General can cut it up when he wants to and has on many occasions but he warned us before left the ship. We've done this before; last time we were here the General had to come get us also." Maridus explained and looked at Nov. "And as I recall it was Asari related last time too."

Nov shrugged innocently. "Don't blame this on me." He said and gestured back to Sidda. "She started it. Sidda may be joining us in our collective shit work."

Maridus scoffed at that last comment. "I don't think so. She's exempt from shit work for other reasons."

Sidda caught his tone and thought about killing him. "Damar." She warned and Nov looked from Sidda and then over to Maridus, he was missing something.

"Alright, what'd I miss?" Nov asked and Sidda kept a glare on Maridus who simply chuckled.

The far door opened and the person Nov and Maridus had been dreading appeared. Victus quietly walked toward the cell with a guard on his right to unlock the cell. By the look on his face they could see they were in trouble because he was less than thrilled with all three of them.

"Oh, shit," Nov said. "Dad's mad." He muttered and Sidda chuckled. Both Nov and Maridus shot to their feet and stood at attention. The quick movements from Nov made his lingering hangover announce its presence. He closed his eyes to shake of the dizzy feeling and remained at attention.

Victus eyed his two officers and glanced to Sidda but returned his attention to the two he warned. "What part of stay out of trouble did you two not understand?" he asked as the guard opened the door and made a quick exit. "Three marines from the _PFS Centurion_ are in the infirmary, 700 credits damage to Oblivion, and I had an unpleasant comm chat with the commander of the station informing me that if you two ever land in this brig again because of a bar fight you will remain in this brig until he and I are satisfied you've learned your lesson." He stated as Sidda struggled to sit up without losing her stomach contents. "They also tell me that you started the fight, Cdr. Shepard."

Sidda managed to sit up and swing her legs over the edge of the bed when he said that she looked up at him. "Assholes had it coming." She replied and Victus stifled a smile, she was a Turian trapped in a human's body no doubt about that. He returned his attention to his two officers.

"Get back to the ship; you're restricted to quarters until further notice." He ordered. "Dismissed."

Nov and Maridus saluted and headed out quickly with no question. He looked at Sidda carefully standing and making her way toward the exit, her knuckles were scraped and bruised but she didn't have a mark on her face, they had won the fight and he was proud of that. Perhaps even more proud that she backed up his men in a bar fight. "Are you okay?"

She looked up at him wishing her brain would stop trying to pound its way out of her skull. "I'll let you know after my head stops hurting." She said as he lightly, discreetly touched her right arm.

* * *

The ships rec room was a good size; right now the majority of the ship was still enjoying leave so it was empty. With the exception of a very hungover human with her head down on the table half asleep, her head hurt so bad that it could be prudent to see Dr. Holum but she didn't.

"That was fun, Callus, thank you." Maridus said and Nov shot him a look.

"Hey, I wasn't the only one rolling around on the floor breaking tables, bottles, and bones." Nov replied and Maridus knew that, it just made him feel better blaming the whole thing on a junior officer. They rounded the corner and saw Sidda face down on the table. They both stopped and cocked their heads; if they were human the expression would be read as puzzled.

"Sid?" Maridus questioned. "How's the head?"

Sidda said nothing but moved her right hand up from its position next to her face and flipped them both off. The Turians were unfamiliar with the gesture so the question had to be asked. "And what does that mean?" Nov asked.

Sidda looked up at both of them looking like pure owl shit. "It means 'fuck you'." She stated dryly and Nov let out a good laugh. "Where have you two been?"

Nov and Maridus scoffed, they knew Victus was gonna have their ass but they were never really preparred for the ass chewing that came after being bailed out of the Brig by your commanding officer. "We just spent an hour getting our punishment from the General." Nov said sitting down and putting his right foot on the edge of the table.

"Why are you guys so afraid of him?" she asked, her voice muffled because she was still face down on the table. "He's a General for crying out loud, he's seen it all including bar fights, disobeyed orders, and time in the brig."

Maridus was finished rummaging through the rec rooms refrigerator and came up with the next best thing to a soda for Turians. "Oh, come on, Sid," he started and sat down next to Nov sending the cap to the bottle across the room with a flick of his fingers. "you're sleeping with him you have nothing to worry about." He said and immediately regretted hat he said, how the hell could he have let that slip?

"Damar!" she exclaimed in shock as her head shot up to glare at him, he was visibly cringing waiting for the explosion.

The revelation initially bounced off of Nov but it sunk in after that and he looked at her shocked. "Fuck! I knew it!" he said and she gave them both a burning glare.

"I am gonna kick your ass." She hissed toward Maridus.

Maridus knew she was gonna beat the crap out of him. "Sidda-…"

"You've got two minutes, you overgrown Vulture, start fucking running." She snapped cutting him off, Nov was doing his best not to laugh out loud and become a target for her hostility.

"Why give him two minutes, Sid, just kill him now?" Nov asked doing his best to egg her on and Maridus glowered at him.

Sidda turned her look to Nov, her head was still throbbing and all the movement now was making it worse. "Because it's gonna take me that long just to get the hell up." Nov tried to stifle a laugh and failed.

"Sid, relax. Just relax, it's only Callus…he's not going to say anything and if he does I'll kill him." Maridus said trying to save his plated hide from a slow and painful death.

Nov looked to him and scoffed. "Hey, I'm not the one with the bucket mouth, Boss, you are." He fired back and Sidda finally made sense of what Nov had said and turned her attention to him.

"Wait, wait, wait, you said you knew. How did you know?" she asked hoping that no one else had the same idea.

Nov sighed with a shrug. "He just seems happier now that you're onboard." He said. "His demeanor changes when he sees you." Sidda was now worried that everyone on board knew about this, having a relationship with the commanding officer of the ship she was serving on was probably the worst idea she'd ever had, but she couldn't help it. There was something about Victus that she was attracted to.

"Great." She droned and decided that killing Maridus would have to wait until her head stopped hurting. "Damar, sleep with one eye open tonight. My head hurts too bad to kill you right now."

Nov chuckled. "Sidda, if all human women are like you I'm gonna give up Asari all together and move to Earth." He said and Sidda put her head down on the table again.

"Don't bother, Cal, I'm not from Earth." She stated. "I'm a Navy brat, raised on ships never made it to Earth until I went to the academy."

Maridus got up from his seat and went to get something to help Sidda's head. "Can't imagine what it's like to spend an entire childhood on a ship."

"Why? Where are you from?" she asked as Maridus put some water in front of her. Normally, he would have given her his cocktail to cure a hangover but because of the levo/dextro DNA difference it could kill her and he didn't really want to take that chance.

"I am from Palaven." Maridus stated and sat back down in his seat as Nov rocked back in his chair.

Sidda downed the water quickly and looked at Nov. "What about you?"

"I am from a small colony, the furthest away from Turian space, called Rylo." He replied. "Very small colony."

Sidda felt like passing out now, she'd burned all her energy on yelling at Maridus. "Alright, guys, I'm gonna stagger my way to my quarters and die for the next 12 hours." She stated and slowly stood making her way out.

* * *

The _Lante_ was in port with a skeleton crew on board, Victus was irritated with the problems with the ship but repairs were progressing reletaivly well. The hour was late but he wanted to see Sidda, wanted to check on her, mostly he just wanted to be around her. Maridus and Nov got her in a bar fight but he was more than impressed with the outcome of that mess. Her door wasn't locked and he smiled inwardly tapping the control to open it then locked it behind him.

The room was dark and Sidda's pounding head was getting better, by the sound of a light easy snoring he assumed she was asleep. He took his tunic off and slipped into bed behind her letting her sleep off her hangover.


	4. Chapter 4: Worst Kept Secret

_Authors Notes: I'm really hoping you all are enjoying this story. Please enjoy and due give me plenty of feedback. Thank you! _

**Mass Effect****  
**"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Four: Worst Kept Secret**

Sidda stirred in the bed and rolled over bumping into the other occupant in the bed. She froze, confused opening an eye to see where she was and who was with her. When she went to bed with a pounding head she was alone, now she was confused. She knew who it was but was at a loss as to when he got there. Her head didn't hurt anymore but she had no clue what time it was.

The movement in the bed woke Victus up and he put an arm around her. "When did you get here?" she asked and he pulled her toward him.

"Sometime lastnight." He replied. "Damar told me you, and I quote, 'staggered off to your quarters'. When I got here your quarters were unlocked and you were passed out."

"I may never drink again." She added. "Dextro stuff packs a wallop."

Victus let out a chuckle and nuzzled the side of her neck. That had become a favorite spot to nuzzle and bother while on his way to bothering other places. "Maridus told me how much you drank. I'm actually surprised you're not dead." He said lightly licking her collarbone.

Sidda smiled to the tickle of his tongue. "It was pretty sketchy there for a little while." She said and his hand started to rove over her body. "And speaking of my brothers in barfights, they were complaining of a punishment you gave them. What'd you do to them?" she asked as his talons lightly tickled her stomach, she stifled a few giggles as he moved on somewhere else.

"They have to clean the armory." He said and Sidda thought by their complaints it was somewhere along the lines of cleaning the latrine.

"That's it?" she asked and he paused.

"They have to clean the _whole_ armory. Everything. Weapons, armor, all of it." He said and she brought her left hand up tracing her fingers over his horn crest. "Should take them all day." He said with a bit of purr, he was enjoying her light touch.

Sidda was still unimpressed with the punishment. "By the way they reacted I figured it would be worse." She said and he enjoyed her touch moving down his neck and to his carapace.

"They've had worse." He replied. "They've had everything from mopping the floor to sorting laundry."

She chuckled realizing that Nov and Maridus were his problem children on the ship. "So why was I left out of the Administrative Punishment?" she asked and he propped himself up on his right elbow looking down at her.

"Because I didn't order you to stay out of trouble and this wasn't the third time I've pulled you out of the brig." He said and she smiled, she wasn't looking for any special treatment from him. She snorted as he rolled out of bed and started putting his clothes on. "Get up." He said and she cocked her head to him.

"Why?" she asked. "We're still in dock…we can spend the morning in bed." She stated with a seductive tone and he paused looking at her. She wasn't wearing much and she was only half covered with a blanket but her legs and underwear clad ass were exposed. He said nothing as he contemplated his options. "What?" she asked trying to figure out why he was just looking at her.

"I'm thinking." He replied making her laugh. "Get up. We're having breakfast on the station."

"I thought you had to babysit the repairs?" she asked leaning over the bed trying to find where all her clothes landed in her semi-hungover state.

"That's the beauty of having Maridus confined to the _Lante_." He stated and Sidda laughed out loud.

* * *

_Zinith_ Station wasn't Victus's favorite place for leave but it had some few attractions he enjoyed. He'd been to Oblivion before and had too much to drink so for him the bar wasn't the issue. His crew of handpicked special operatives had a tendency to lose their minds on the station and he normally hauled them out of the brig the next day. One benefit to having Maridus under his thumb more than usual was handing him the responsibility of babysitting the repairs, he wanted to take some time and spend it with Sidda. They were kind of doing this relationship thing backward, they were still in the process of getting to know the other, however, the huge question of could Humans and Turians even have sex had been answered with a huge resounding yes.

Zollya was the local resturant that serviced the Asari as well so there was a good chance that levo based food would be served. With the guidance of a very helpful Asari waitress they found a dish that actually tasted good.

"Why aren't you married?" she asked looking across the table at him.

Victus didn't get the human term. "Married?" he asked and took a sip of his drink.

"Mated?" she offered and he nodded understanding now.

"I was." He answered quickly. Sidda figured he had been bonded at some point because of the bite mark on his right upper shoulder. As she had learned, that was the equivalent to a Turian wedding ring.

"What happened?" she chanced, she didn't want to push him into anything uncomfortable but she did want to know more about him.

Victus wasn't uncomfortable, it was a fair question, he had long ago come to terms with his former wife's death he just didn't want to go into it right now. "She died."

Sidda was satisfied with that answer so she backed off her probing. "Sorry." She said. "Any kids?"

Victus nodded. "My son Tarquin."

"Is he anything like you?" she asked and he snorted.

"I hope not. The Heirarchy seems to only want one of me." He said and she allowed a quiet laugh.

"Yeah, I heard you're a bit of a wildcard." She said and he shrugged. It was his reputation and he liked it.

Victus was intregued by her, there was something about her that as addicting as a drug to him. "Well, I guess we both have reputations that preceed us, Sidda."

There was a quiet pause as their breakfast continued. A few Turians eyed them and Sidda could see them looking as they passed by. A few members of the crew noticed them as well and whispered to themselves but weren't stupid enough to say anything with the General there. "So, I asked you a personal question. Do you have any questions for me?"

He had to be honest; he did have one looming question. Sidda was a Turian trapped in a human's body, she was as tough as they came and bound by the same honor code he was. If she was single he wanted to know why. Either human males didn't find her strength attractive or there was something wrong with her. Everything he'd seen in her he loved, she was exactly what he wanted in a female. "Same question."

Sidda sighed. "I'm married to the Alliance. Born into it, raised in it, military's in my blood and makes it hard for relationships to work, much less a marriage." She said and he liked her answer. It was more that he understood her answer and liked the fact that she was bred military just like he was.

"Sid, you and I are very similar creatures." He said and put his left hand on her right hand. "I like that."

Sidda couldn't help but smile and felt her face get hot as she blushed, he was the perfect man. She'd been looking for him for her entire adult life; the issue was she was looking in the wrong species.

* * *

With the _Lante_ repaired and now in working order they departed from the space station and resumed their course returning to their section of Turian space. Sidda was learning how to fight like a Turian under the instruction of the best fighter on the ship. Adrien Victus. Sidda had improved drastically over getting her ass kicked by Nov then Cerrus then him. She was working up a sweat sparring with him and employing the things that he had tought her and scored a great hit with a punch to the left side of his face knocking him back. He caught himself and dabbed a trickle of blood away from his mouth. "Nice hit." He said and she shook her right hand trying to shake the pain away.

"God you got a face like a rock." She replied.

"_Gen. Victus to CIC. Gen. Victus to CIC_." The intercom said and he groaned to himself.

"Tough being the boss." Sidda stated as he collected his things and headed toward the CIC.

* * *

As part of their punishment for practically disobeying the warning given by Victus both Nov and Maridus were relegated to the armory. This was a tedious practice and one that was everyday for them, their penance was cleaning the armory but it wasn't that simple. They were charged with cleaning every weapon, piece of armor, and spare part that was present in the very large room. The first day they did this it didn't seem so bad, however now it was day three and their own personel hell. Cutting corners also wasn't an option for them since Victus would inspect everything after they were done and neither one of them wanted to find out what would happen if Victus found a cut corner.

"Callus." Maridus said in a flat tone while putting his hundreth rifle back together.

Nov was just as irritated with this detail as his cohort was. "Yes, Sir." He replied but didn't look up from the pistol he was cleaning.

"I really hope she was worth it." He said growing very tired of Victus's special detail.

Nov was silent as he thought a moment then turned to look at Maridus. "I honestly don't remember." He replied and Maridus paused also with an 'are you serious' expression. He couldn't help but laugh and pretty soon they were both laughing.

The armory door opened and they saw Sidda walk in. She was wearing the blue casual uniform of the Alliance and her hair was pulled back into the braid, this was the first time in a long time they'd seen her face with no bruising or cuts on it. "Hey Boys, whats the joke?"

"Oh this _lovely_ detail we landed in and he doesn't even remember what she looked like." Maridus said and Sidda chuckled.

"Are you kidding? I had so much to drink I think the guy I was fight looked like Kermit the Frog." She replied dryly as they both gave her a puzzled expression, they didn't understand her reference and she shook her head. "Nevermind."

"So what brings you down here with us criminals, Sidda?" Nov asked and she peered over Maridus' arm to see what he was doing.

She moved around to the weapons bench they weren't using and leaned on it. "I've come to extract you." She said and they paused. "We have a mission. We're in route to a planet called Rorrvin, it has a-…"

"Geothermal Plant." Maridus cut in and she nodded.

"It's gone dark. We don't know why." She said and nothing would make Nov happier than to go on a mission and get the hell out of the armory. "ETA is one hour so suit up, Cal. You too, Damar, Victus says I'm gonna need your tech."

* * *

Rorrvin was a hot planet and very seismically active, the Turians had put an outpost on this planet long ago and it functioned well for a long time. The problem was it was no longer transmitting reports back to Palaven and that was a cause for concern. Argo Unit along with Maridus took one shuttle down to investigate the facility.

Rorrvin had a red hue to it but something was definitly wrong. "Whoa." Maridus stated looking out the forward view port. "That's some serious volcanic activity." He said and Sidda stood next to him to see what he was looking at. "Check the atmospheric conditions."

The pilot hit a few buttons and waited a second for the sensors to do their job. "Breathable but toxic after too much exposure, and it's pretty hot out there too…not quite as hot as Palaven but it's getting there."

The shuttle landed and they stepped out onto the landing pad. Sidda took in a breath and coughed. "Oh, damn." She said with another cough. "Let's hurry up; I don't think my lungs can take this planet very long. Callus, take Tobius, Rajin, and Zek and see you if you can find the staff." She ordered and coughed again, now she wished she'd brought her helmet. "Damar and I will go and retreive any data from the mainframe."

Nov nodded and headed off with his men as Sidda and Maridus headed toward the main complex.

* * *

Inside the complex the atmosphere was less toxic, or at least, Sidda was breathing easier, which meant the staff had a hope of being found alive. The power in the complex was on emergency so it was darker than expected. Nov and his unit moved through the halls toward the living quarters to see if the staff was in there. It was a logical place to be aside from medical. Rajin had point, she was the smallest of the group but by far the best shot and, aside from Sidda, she was the only other female on Argo Unit.

She reached the door and tapped it but was denied access. "Locked." She said back to Nov and he moved forward to bypass the door.

It took him a few seconds to bypass the lock and they entered finding all five of their targets. "Deliah," he said gesturing to Rajin, she was their medic and all of the scientists looked to be in rough shape. He knelt down by the Asari. "Doctor, can you hear me?"

It took a few minutes for Rajin to report that the four Turians and one Asari scientists were alive but in bad shape. "We gotta get them out of here, Lieutenant." Rajin stated and Nov got on the comm to Sidda.

"Commander, we found the staff. Alive but not good." He reported.

"Understood, Callus, get them out of there. We're almost to the mainframe." She replied and followed Maridus through the halls. It was almost like he'd been here before. "Have you been here before?" she asked as they made it to the main computer hub to access the data and save it so all the work here wasn't a total loss.

"Yeah, about seven years ago." He replied and bypassed the security on the mainframe door. "Not much has changed." They walked in and he immediately getting to work on the computer.

A few minutes passed as the data uploaded to his omni-tool. "There's a sensor on the landing platform that has more recorded data, I suggest we grab that too." He said and Sidda nodded. He was impressive with tech and hacked the main computer with ease, she never figured him for a tech but apparently he was as good with his omni tool as he was with a Sniper rifle. The facility shook violently, enough to almost shake them off their feet. It passed within a few seconds but left them both with an uneasy feeling.

Things got eerily still and quiet and they both had the same feeling. "Yeah, I suggest we get it now and get the hell out of here." She stated and Maridus tapped the door control.

"After you, Commander." He stated quickly as another quake hit lasting a little longer than the last one.

"Guys, wrap it up, we gotta go." Sidda said into her comm. "Nov, get those people on the shuttle and pick us up on the east platform."

"Copy that, Commander, enroute now." He replied.

Maridus and Sidda move with purpose to the sensor pylon. They were halfway there when the platform rocked violently causing them both to stop and take time to steady themselves. Just as they got themselves steady the landing pad rocked again and the whole thing shifted down.

"Forget it!" Sidda shouted realizing what was happening. "Let's go!"

They both spun and started running back the way they came, it was now a soft incline but that was a serious cause for concern. The platform was collapsing, being a seismically active planet she now knew what was going on. As they were running back toward level ground the platform shook again and causing the sensor tower they had been bound for joined them, falling right in front of them. The impact from the tower falling made Sidda lose her footing and fall backward as Maridus fell forward after trying to catch her.

The platform shifted more, adding a steeper angle and causing them to slide down. She looked down the platform to see their new heading. A chasm.

"Damar!" Sidda yelled. If they fell into the chasm they were both finished. Maridus was her friend and she was gonna be damned if he was gonna die on her watch. "Damar! My hand!" she yelled again extending her left hand as far as she could reach. "Damar!"

They were nearing the edge and both were running out of time. Their fingers touched and she gave one last effort to catch her friend before he went over the edge. He was finally able to get ahold of her and she locked onto his wrist as he did the same. Maridus hit the edge and went over as grabbed the nearest thing to keep her from going over. She got a firm grip on a communication pole and prevented them both from death.

Sidda let out a painful yell as the weight of a Turian in full armor hit her left arm. The pain was excruciating and she tried to let it go. It wasn't just in the left arm, it was in the right too, but she couldn't let him go. That could kill her friend. "Oh!" she exclaimed in pain. "Oh my, God." Everything else that wasn't secured down fell into the chasm.

"Sidda." Maridus questioned, very concerned but greatly relieved.

"Oh, God this hurts." She replied through a grimace of pain.

Maridus tried not to swing figuring every little movement would be terribly painful for her. "Hold on." He said and the only thing that went through her mind was the obvious retort.

"I'm not going anywhere." She grimaced out and let out a yell of pain as he swung to get his feet up onto the angled ledge.

"I'm sorry." He said as he missed the ledge and swung more.

Sidda was finding it hard to hang on with both arms. "Oh, don't apoligize, just hurry up." She grunted out.

"Shepard? Maridus?" Nov asked throught the comm., he was in the shuttle and probably had front row tickets to that little display. "You guys okay? Where are you?"

"Yeah! We're okay!" Maridus replied then recanted his statement quietly. "For now." Maridus tried again to get up onto the ledge and relieve Sidda's arms.

She bit back the pain coursing from fingertip to fingertip, the more he moved the more it hurt. All she had to do was wait until he could get onto the ledge. Something had to be broken or at the very least dislocated. "Oh….Damar." she grunted through clinched teeth. His target was a communication stand about a foot from her feet.

"Hang tight, Commander." Nov said through the Omni-tool. "We're bringing a shuttle down to you."

Neither one of them responded, Maridus knew he had to find his own support because it was a fluke she was able to catch him and hang onto him in the first place. "Sidda, I know it hurts but I need you to swing me toward your feet." He said and she could help but whimper in pain. "I can't reach the antenna cluster on my own.

She was trying to keep a clear and focused head, not giving into the pain and letting him go. "Alright." She grunted, feeling the sharping, tingling, tearing, and buring coursing from fingertip to fingertip. "Just say when."

Maridus focused on what he was aiming for. "Now." He said and she mustered all the strength she had left to force her left arm to swing him toward her feet.

Maridus let go and caught the cluster poles with both hands steadying himself easily on the structure. Now he couldn't get to her, if he tried to stand on the edge of the platform he'd slide off again. All he could offer now was moral support for her to hang on. "Just hold on, Sid." He said and she heard him but didn't respond. "You die on this mission Gen. Victus will have my head decorating the bow of the _Lante_."

Sweat was beading on Sidda's forehead, between the heat of the planet and the pain that she was in it was a miracle she hadn't passed out yet. Maridus held his precarious position but kept a close eye on her. He made his way as close as he could without going over the edge just incase he needed to catch her. Sidda could see the Turian shuttle hovering down to them and the side door open. Nov held out a hand to help Maridus on and reached back to tether himself to the shuttle as they sidled up close to Sidda.

"How's it going, Commander?" Nov asked using his humor to help lighten the mood.

Her entire torso hurt but felt better now that Maridus wasn't hanging on it. "Oh, you know…just hanging out. Enjoying the view." She said and Nov let out a soft chuckle as the shuttle got as close as it could. He leaned out and used his reach to slip his right arm under her back.

"Little lower, Balin." Nov shouted to the pilot so he could drop the shuttle down to an easier height to transfer her over to the ship. The pilot complied and Nov got both arms around her. "Alright, let go. I got you." Sidda released herself and Nov held onto her tight as Maridus helped pull him back.

She couldn't even move her arms they hurt so badly. "Oh, thank you, Cal." She breathed out; she needed a serious pain pill right now.

"Anytime, Sid." He said gently sitting her down.

* * *

Victus was getting a little annoyed with always following Sidda's missions with a trip to the Medical Bay. He entered the bay and looked at his ships doctor then to the medical bed with Sidda in it; Maridus hadn't strayed far from the person who saved his life. "Doctor. Major." He greeted.

"General." Dr. Holum greeted. Holum was the same height as Victus with a very light face and black face paint that resembled Victus' but quite as intracate.

"How is she?" he asked, trying to sound as detached as possible. So far their relationship had gone pretty well unnoticed which is how he wanted it.

"The Commander dislocated both of her shoulders, several ligament and tendon tears primarily in the left arm." Holum said. "She is sedated for now. Restrict her duty for a few days and then she'll be fine. No permanate damage."

Victus gave a slight nod and looked over at Maridus. Holum picked up on that and shifted his focus to his second patient. "Maj. Maridus is none the worse for wear." He said. "Hyperextended right arm, nothing trivial. The scientists are okay, concentrated oxygen and they're fine."

Victus nodded and gestured to Maridus to leave. "Right." Maridus said. "Come, Doctor."

Victus looked over to her bed at the other end of the room and locked the door then hit the privacy button on the windows making the glas cloud. The scientists had been tended to and all but two of them were in seeing to the data recovered by Maridus at the Science Station in the CIC. He made his way over to her and looked down at her medication induced sleeping body. She was beautiful, human or not she was beautiful. She was an interesting creature; Sidda would do anything if it meant protecting someone. Her selfless act to save Maridus showed her true self. He brushed a lock of brown hair from her forehead then sat down waiting for her to come out of her sedation.

Around an hour later, Victus hadn't left the medical bay but had found something to do. He linked his personel files to a Medical Bay console next to her bed and was reading over messages.

She stirred in the bed and he looked over at her. "I don't know what he gave me but it was good." She said and he shifted over to her.

"Hey." He greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Nothing right now, but I'm sure as soon as I move that'll change." She said and looked over at him. "How's Damar?"

Victus looked down at her. He loved her and he was sure his expression told her that. "Insufferable." He replied and she laughed. "Couldn't you have let him fall?" he joked.

"Certainly would have been less painful." She replied with a laugh. "I tell ya…it's a new kinda pain feeling a big Turian in full armor hit the end of your arm at a high rate of speed." She commented and he allowed a few chuckles.

There was a pause as he waited to talk. "You're a brave woman." He said. "I love that about you. I never thought humans could-…" he trailed off but she figured out what he was getting at.

"Be that brave?" she finished and offered him a smile. "There's a lot about us that you Turians don't know, but you have no idea how alike we are."

* * *

Sidda was tired of sitting or lying in bed in the medical bay so she attempted walking. Holum was a brilliant doctor and mastered medication for a human; that being said whatever he gave her was some good stuff. Her left arm hurt more than the right did, it felt a little bit like dead weight but Holum assured her there was no permanent damage. Her left arm was in a sling but her right wasn't, sitting up right was a small challenge but she refused to take more medication to make the pain go away.

The medical bay door opened and she looked over seeing Maridus and Nov walk in together. "Well, look who's awake." Nov greeted in a cheery tone. "Last time I saw you, you passed out in my arms."

Sidda chuckled to his comment. "Don't flatter yourself, Callus, I was in pain."

"Oh, come on, Commander, that was nothing." Nov replied and absentmindedly slapped her left arm causing her to hiss and cringe in pain.

"Ow!" she grunted and glared at him.

Nov realized his accident and received a very hard punch to his right arm from Maridus. "Ow! Damn!" Nov exclaimed glaring at Maridus.

"Nice going, Dumbass." Maridus fired back to him.

Nov was rubbing his right bicep still feeling the impact of Maridus's hit. "I'm sorry."

"So what's the damage? When are you getting out of here?" Maridus asked glaring at Nov then turning his attention back to Sidda.

"Whenever I can twist or bend without excruciation pain." She replied. "Holum keeps trying to feed me pain pills but I keep wondering if the dosage is right or he's trying to kill me."

Nov scoffed. "Holum wouldn't dare kill you because then Victus would kill him. If there's one thing we know is self preservation comes in at number one with Dr. Holum." He stated and could feel Holum glaring at his back.

"I heard that." Holum stated from his seat at his desk across the medical bay. "I'll have you know, Commander, my previous posting was on the Citadel. Your people have invaded that station so I learned about human physiology. If I wanted to kill you I'd choose other ways to do that." He stated and Sidda glared over at him.

"Touche, Doctor." She hissed and they heard a low chuckle from him.

* * *

A few days later, Sidda's arms felt better. The medication the Turian's had worked well to heal her slew of painful but minor injuries. It had been about three months since she'd been on board and her reputation had gotten better. She'd won over most of the crew by her actions alone; the unexpected thing was developing a relationship with Adrien.

Now she needed to be evaluated by Holum to make sure her arms were fit for duty. "Come on, Doc, it's been a week. Am I cleared or not?"

Holum sighed. "Commander, you lead one of our ground teams your arms need to be fully healed before I put you back out into the field." He said and she shook her head annoyed with how long it was taking. "I need to run a few tests, check and make sure there are no lasting tendon and ligement problems. Human physiology is not my specialty but your people are relativily simple to figure out."

Sidda gave him a glare. "I could punch you, would that speed things along?" she asked in a grumpy tone that made Holum look up at her and cock his head.

"Commander, you have the personality of a Krogan." He stated and she folded her arms across her chest.

"So get me out of here, clear me for duty and I won't have to kill you." She replied and he stopped what he was doing and tried to decide if she was kidding or not.

Holum picked up a datapad and tapped a few keys on it. "You're more like a Turian than you think, Commander." He said and she gave him a sardonic glare. "You're clear for duty."

* * *

In the training room she saw Maridus working out by himself. "Hey." She greeted and walked toward him.

He paused and turned looking at her. "Hey. Look who's up and about."

She nodded and took the tunic top off so she could work out better. "Yep. Holum gave me a clean bill of health." She said. "Had to get out of there anyway, Holum's got the personality of an Elcor."

Maridus took a drink of water and looked her up and down. "Thank you, Sidda." He said, it was about the 10th time he'd said that referring to catching him on Rorrvin. "I know I've said it before but…thank you." She nodded to him. "Solana is more than grateful, she asked me to thank you."

"Tell her it was my pleasure, Damar." She said and moved to the mat gesturing for him to spar with her. In all the time she'd been on board she'd never sparred with him. He was usually the moderator of the sparring to make sure nothing got out of hand.

He set up and they started easy, she'd learned how to handle a Turian in a fight but it was still difficult for her, they were bigger, strong, and faster. She blocked his attacks and used Victus's instruction taking the fight to him, aiming for feet and keeping him as off balance as she could. He backed off noticing she had improved; he knew she'd been training with Victus so he stepped up his game.

He attacked her and she blocked him stepping into his attack like Victus had taught her, she trapped his right arm under her left arm and spun toward him flipping the big Turian over her shoulder and onto his back. Maridus hit the ground with thud and a groan.

"Well done, Sidda." Victus said walking up to them. They didn't see him enter but she was happy that he was there. "Very nice counter."

She gave him a flirty smile as Maridus slowly got it his feet. "I had a good teacher." She flirted.

"You're an excellent student." He replied back knowing she was flirting heavily with him.

Maridus groaned. "Would you two like me to leave?" he asked and she giggled. It was good to be able to speak freely with Maridus, he knew all about their relationship and approved.


	5. Chapter 5: The Proverbial Rabbit Hole

_Author's Note: Okay, Nihlus fans, guess who's arrived? I had to it. His first of quite few appearances in this story. This chapter is part 1 of 2 and I will have the second half posted when work stops trying to kill me. _

**Mass Effect  
****"Foreign Relations"**

**Chapter Five: The Proverbial Rabbit Hole**

A few weeks after the disaster on Rorrvin the ship was relatively quiet, they'd been sent to mediate a few disputes on along the border but nothing too major. Sidda spending the night in Victus' quarters was a regular thing now, she had grown even closer with him and most of the crew could see it. Spending the entire day in Medical after she chased Maridus down a collapsing platform didn't do much to steer rumors away from their relationship. He very much enjoyed her company and they spent a lot of time getting to know one another. They had quite a bit in common, they both were born military and they both had powerful parents.

The chime of an incoming message rousted Victus awake. "What?" he grumbled to the darkness.

"Sorry to desturb you, Sir, but message coming in from Councilor Sparatus." Lt. Zara Ruvio said and Victus grumbled more looking over at Sidda, she was still sound asleep.

"Give me a minute and patch it through to my terminal." He said and got up pulling some clothes on. If the Councilor was calling him this late whatever it was wasn't good. He made his way over to the desk and straightened his tunic. "Put it through, Zara." He said turning the light on and the screen changed to Councilor Sparatus.

"Gen. Victus." Sparatus stated.

"Councilor, what can I do for you, Sir?" he asked trying to make it sound like he wasn't still half asleep.

"General, your ship is the closest that can help. Any your crew is the most capable." Sparatus said and Victus cocked his head.

"What's the problem?" he asked and Sparatus could appreciate him wanting to get to the point.

"General, this is Council business, one of our Specter's needs a ride and…I'd like him to have some support." Sparatus said and Victus nodded. "The Heirarchy informs me your ship is near _Vendabar Station_."

Victus nodded, that station was listening post near the edge of Turian space. "Yes Sir, a relay jump away."

"Set course for _Vendabar_ immediately and pick up Specter Nihlus Kryik. He will fill you in on the rest of the mission." Sparatus said and Victus simply nodded again in silence. "Good hunting, Gen. Victus."

The screen went black and Victus sighed, his night was cut short but he saw no reason to wake Sidda. He quietly pulled on his proper uniform and left his quarters heading to the CIC. It was the middle of the night but the CIC had the night watch on. The ranking officer was his pilot Lt. Zara Ruvio; she had a dark face yellow-orange eyes and yellow face paint on her mandibles only.

"Zara," he began while walking into the CIC, she spun not expecting him to be there. "Set course for _Vendabar_." She was one of the few crew members he was on a first name basis with, she saved his life on a mission and from then on she had been assigned to his ship.

She was confused but didn't question the order outright. "Yes, Sir." She said as he moved next to her, Zara could smell Sidda on him and didn't approve of the relationship, no one told her she simply figured it out. Victus was a Turian and Sidda was a human, it was an unnatural match and an insult to everyone who served in the Relay 314 Incident. Zara's parents served in the war and carried that family grudge against humans. But it wasn't her place to question her superior, no matter how she felt about it.

"Can I ask why we're heading to _Vendabar_ in the middle of the night, Sir?" she asked as he brought up his private terminal.

"Council business." He replied quickly. "ETA?"

"Three hours to the relay then two to _Vendabar_." She replied and he nodded.

Victus sighed hoping that there was something in his messages that had more details than just 'meet Specter Kryik and he'd fill in the rest' but there was nothing. "Alright, you have the conn; remember _Vendabar_ has an automated defense grid transmit the ident code as soon as the ship exits the relay-…"

"So we don't get blown to hell." Zara finished nodding. "Yes, Sir, I remember."

Victus patted her left shoulder. "Call me when we exit the relay."

She nodded knowing he was returning to Sidda, her body language told him she wasn't pleased with his extra curricular activities but he could care less that was a benefit of being a General.

He knew he probably should have stayed on the CIC but there was nothing he could do while the ship was in transit and there was no place he'd rather be than with Sidda. He'd only felt like this for one other female, the fact that this one was a human was a major surprise for him since he'd killed more than a few during the 314 Incident.

* * *

Maridus took the lift to the CIC wondering what the general alert was for, General Alert could have meant a few things, normally it was for entering a zone that had a potential for being hostile. When he went to bed the ship was in a non-hostile zone. Something must have changed during the night. The lift door opened and he looked around the CIC not seeing Victus. "Ruvio." He stated seeing her monitoring the comm station. "What's going on?"

"Major," she greeted not looking up. "we just exited the Vendabar Relay."

Maridus cocked his head confused. "Why are we going to _Vendabar_?" he asked and looked over her shoulder as she encoded the Identity Codes and began broadcasting.

"The General came up a few hours ago and had me change course. Said it was Council business." She stated and he gave a single nod, Council Business was rather vague.

Maridus tapped a few keys on the console. "Where's the General?" he asked as he practically took over the console from her.

"Probably with the Human." She muttered in a hostile low tone.

He looked over at her trying to figure out her tone. "What's your problem?"

Ruvio grumbled to herself. "Nothing, Sir." She hissed but Maridus didn't buy it.

Maridus didn't look away and eyed her. "Spit it out, Lieutenant." He stated and she looked up at him quickly then back down at the console.

"Him and the Human…it's disgusting. Unnatural." She said and Maridus let her have her opinion.

"Lieutenant, first off her name is Shepard, not Human. Second, she's the only female, Turian or otherwise, that he's even looked at since I've served under him." He said and she still didn't agree with it.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it, Major." She stated and he simply looked at her.

The lift opened and Victus stepped off, their discussion was now over. So long as Ruvio didn't do anything that would get her in trouble her opinion didn't matter. Victus' relationship with a human certainly was popular but they weren't hurting anyone or putting their respective militaries in jeopardy.

"Major, status?" Victus asked and Maridus turned to him.

"Sir, we've exited the relay and are broadcasting Security and Authentication Codes on specified scrambled frequencies." Maridus stated.

"We haven't been blown out of the system yet?" he asked and Maridus chuckled.

"No, Sir. Codes must be right." He joked and Victus allowed a laugh. That inside joke had some truth to it; _Vendabar_ was a highly classified and secured installation with a very specific procedure for approach and with that and very finicky automated defense grid protecting it. When the station first went online some years back there was a miscommunication between the Heirarchy, the Turian Cruiser, and the _Vendabar_ defense grid. The end result was a heavily damaged Cruiser after the defense grid damn near blew it out of the sky and an embarrassed Turian military.

"ETA?" Victus asked, tapping a few buttons on the console to check progress for himself.

There was a pause from Maridus and he confirmed their position. "A little over an hour." He answered and asked the same question he'd already asked Ruvio. "Why are we going to _Vendabar_?" he asked. "When I went to bed we were still in our own little corner of Turian space, why detour to this pain in the ass station?"

Victus sighed and turned to his second in command. "I got commed by Councilor Sparatus. He instructed us to go to _Vendabar_ and pick up a Specter and escort him on Council business."

Maridus heard 'Specter' and began to wonder. "Who's the Specter?" he asked.

Victus knew why he was asking this. "Nihlus. We're going to pick up Nihlus." He said and Maridus tossed his head back with a chuckle.

"Oh, yes. About time. I haven't seen the Council's prodigy in years." He joked and Victus knew Maridus would be happy to see his old friend.

* * *

The lift door opened and Sidda appeared, when she stepped off the lift the CIC guards stopped her. "I'm sorry, Commander, you can't be here." The sergeant said and Sidda cocked her head confused. She'd never been turned away on the CIC before.

"Come again?" she asked confused and the sergeant looked back to Victus.

"Sir?" he asked and Victus looked up toward the situation. He saw Sidda but duty restricted him and shook his head to the guard. "I'm sorry, Commander." He said and pressed the lift button gesturing for her to leave the CIC.

As the lift door closed she heard an incoming hail. "General, the _PFS Ramora_ is hailing." That ship was one of four frigates that were part of _Vendabar_'s oribital defense. The _Ramora_ was a heavily armed ship with one purpose, battle. Her firepower would suggest a Dreadnaught but her size said Frigate. She was also one of the oldest ships in the Turian Fleet, over 40 years in service she'd seen battle in the Relay 314 Incident and was responsible for several destroyed Alliance vessels. Despite the _Ramora_'s awsome firepower she was joined by three other ships that shared the 24 hour guard, the _Cherivus, Etilus, _and _Marso_ all powerful in their own right but no where near as threatening as the _Ramora_.

Victus eyed the lift door and made sure Sidda was not on the CIC. "Open a comm." He said. "This is the _PFS Lante_; we are here on Council Business."

There was a pause on the line as the commander of the _Ramora_ confirmed orders and codes. _Vendabar_ was the most heavily guarded and defended location in the Turian military with the exception of Palaven. The work that went on here was the most classified and most sensitive so protection was the number one concern with this. "_Welcome to Vendabar, Gen. Victus, it is an honor to have you, Sir._" A female voice said and Victus got that a lot. He was very popular amongst the troops but not with the High Command. "_Follow your present course, Sir."_

He didn't respond to her praise and nodded to Ruvio, who had assumed her place behind the helm.

_Vendabar _was technically a Space Station since it was a large asteroid that the Turian military had set up a base on, that base grew over the years as the work that went on got more and more classified and important. It was a weapon testing center and dangerous research lab. Rumors flew that biological, chemical, and other weapons of mass destruction were researched and developed here. Biotic weapons were another major rumor along with torture, gruesome and brutal alien studies, the wild imaginations were endless with an installation like this but the bottom line was it was very important and very guarded. From a view screen _Vendabar_ looked like a metal asteroid since the base's size had quadrupled since it was built, it was damn near the size of the asteroid itself surrounded by defense cannons and an orbital defense mesh that were kin to mines if the ship wasn't tuned to the right broadcast. The four frigates made the place very uninviting, in the several years it had been active no one ever tried to take the station. Since the Relay was practically mined and hard to find by chance most races were taught to avoid the Vendabar Relay.

* * *

Nihlus Kryik boarded the _Lante_ and was greeted by Maridus, Nihlus was a highly respected and decorated Council Specter…he was also an old friend of Maridus'. They were assigned to the same unit once upon a time and remained friends afterward.

"Nihlus." Maridus greeted extending his hand to him. "Welcome aboard."

"Damar." He smiled and shook his hand nodding to him. "The Councilor said he was sending a ship but he didn't say it was going to be you."

Maridus shrugged. "Apparently he rousted the General out of bed and sent us out here." He replied as he and Nihlus began to walk and talk down the corridor. "Speaking of which, what are you doing out here? _Vendabar's_ not exactly a Specter hang out."

"Well, I'm gonna need to talk to Victus about that." He said and Maridus gave him an unsatisfied nod. "I haven't seen you in a while…anything new?"

He shook his head. "No, not really. Solana is good, her father is still as insufferable as he always is, her brother still works for C-Sec…"

Nihlus nodded to that. "Yeah, I've seen him."

Nihlus had never been on the _Lante_ before but a Turian frigate was like all other Turian frigates, generally.

"It's been a long time, General." Nihlus said shaking his hand respectfully and Victus nodded.

"How are you, Nihlus?" he asked. "Special Tactics seems to suits you."

Nihlus nodded. "Fine, Sir, thank you." He replied and nodded. "Thank you for the pickup also."

That brought them to the $65,000 question. "Councilor Sparatus was rather vague about your mission details." Victus said as Maridus leaned against the wall saying nothing. He knew even less than Victus did. "Care to fill in the gaps?"

Nihlus nodded and proceeded to explain his mission to his former commanding officer.

* * *

Nihlus still believed he didn't need back up, all he needed was a ride that could leave the system. However, Victus insisted he take back up with him and wasn't going to take no for an answer. Nihlus' compromise about taking back up and settled on taking Maridus with him but Victus wanted him to take more help, so Maridus suggested bringing Sidda. Given the unpredictable nature of Nihlus' mission it didn't put Victus at ease but he had complete faith that Sidda could handle herself.

"I don't need back up, Damar." Nihlus said and Maridus looked over at him with a scoff.

"Too bad, the General said go so I go." He said as they made their way to the Training Room. Maridus had a feeling that's where he'd find Sidda.

"So who is Shepard?" he asked. "Strange name for a Turian." He muttered afterward.

Maridus shrugged as they rounded the corner heading to the door to the Training Room. "That's because she's not a Turian." He said as the door opened and Maridus cocked his head to what he saw. "Okay, that's something you don't see every day."

Nihlus wore the same expression, it wasn't everyday that one happened upon a 6'7" Turian floating three feet off the ground. Nov was in a biotic field and experiencing the next best thing to flight, Sidda was in front of him with her right hand up looking up at Nov concentrating on what she was doing. "Yeah…that's new." Nihlus stated and they both approached the biotic display.

"Hey, Callus, Sid… what's going on?" Maridus asked.

"I'm flying." Nov laughed, he seemed to be having a great time defying gravity with the aid of Sidda's unique powers. "Or floating…but either way." He added looking down at the height he was at. "This is cool…you should try this. Hi Nihlus."

Nihlus allowed a laugh at how excited Nov was while being suspended in the air. "Callus." He said as Sidda turned her attention to the new Turian but gently lowered Nov back down to the deck.

"Been a long time, Nihlus." Nov said shaking his hand and patting his shoulder.

Nihlus nodded. "It certainly has." He replied as Nov turned back to Sidda.

"What else can you do?" he asked curious about her biotics. "I mean besides death and destruction." He added referring to the firsthand knowledge he had about just what she could do with her biotics. "Anything fun?"

Sidda shrugged. "I could launch you into the bulkhead." She said. "It would probably kill you."

"And would probably be fun to watch." Nihlus stated and Maridus laughed. His comment made Sidda look over at him with a chuckle.

"Funny." Nov replied sardonically. "I missed you too."

"Sid, this is Nihlus Kryik. Nihlus, this is Cdr. Siddalee Shepard; Alliance Navy." Maridus introduced and she nodded to him with a pleasant smile.

"Pleasure to meet you." She said and shook Nihlus' hand. "What was that all about in the CIC?" she asked Maridus.

Maridus sighed. "Classified facility." He said and she allowed a dissatisfied nod. "Don't take it out on him, he didn't have a choice."

Nihlus looked from Maridus to Sidda and got the distinct impression that statement didn't refer to any of the 'hims' in the room. The new question rolling around in his head was why was there a human on a Turian ship? And why did Maridus suggest her to go with them on his sensitive mission?

"Nihlus is a Specter and Victus wants us to watch his back on his mission." Maridus said and she nodded acknowledging him.

Sidda looked Nihlus up and down sizing him up. His face paint was very similar to Victus' and his green eyes were striking against his dark skin. Nihlus was around the same height as Maridus and Victus. Nov was taller than them both but not by much. Their height didn't mean too much to Sidda since she felt like a shrimp next to everyone onboard. "What's the mission?"

"He'll breif us on the way down. ETA's six hours, get your gear ready." Maridus said as Sidda looked from one to the other and nodded. "And Victus wanted to see you."

Sidda nodded to Maridus and still looked Nihlus up and down before heading out of the Training Room.

When the door closed Nihlus turned back to Maridus. "Why is there a human on board? And why is she going with us to a sensitive mission?"

"Well, the 'humans' name is Sidda." Maridus said. "She's a part of an idea to improve Turian and Human relations. Sparatus' idea, he picked the ship the Alliance picked the officer. She's a hell of a soldier, Nihlus, and effectively saved my life on Rorrvin."

"But this is a classified mission. It's Council and Turian business, Damar." Nihlus said as Nov made himself; scarce, this was a conversation he wasn't a part of so he got out of the way.

Maridus understood his concern but knew damn well that once Nihlus got to know her they were going to get along famously. "She'll be fine, Nihlus, you two are going to get along great." He saw the expression on Nihlus' face and knew he wasn't totally satisfied. "If Victus didn't trust her he wouldn't have signed off on her going."

Nihlus didn't understand but he trusted Maridus and Victus. "Okay." He said relenting to him but still had questions about her.

* * *

The shuttle shook a few times as it broke the atmosphere and Sidda looked from Maridus to Nihlus. Nihlus was in black and red armor which made his clean white face paint stand out even more, Maridus was in his usual armor, it was supposed to be black and dark orange but the armor had been through a lot so the paint was a scraped away and or warn off. The front was still scratched up from his slide down the platform on Rorrvin. "So, where are we going?" she asked and Nihlus looked up then to Maridus.

"This planet is Nabewa it's the largest intact Prothean ruin in the galaxy, its Council protected and a neutral place for all species to send Archeologists to study the ruins." Nihlus stated. "I've been looking into several disappearances of Turians in neighboring systems; the Heriarchy turned it over to the Council due to the crossover of systems. Sparatus put me on it and I have traced the disappearances to a central point. All the disappearances are set within one or two jumps of this system which is damned odd since there is nothing in this system besides Nebewa."

Sidda thought a moment. "How many have gone missing?"

"About 50 could be more that weren't reported." He replied and she nodded.

"So why did the Council send you?" she asked. "Why didn't the Heirarchy take care of it?"

"Because it's a Council protected planet, Specters are the hand of the Council and they don't answer to anyone but the Council so they can operate at will and do whatever's necessary for their investigation." Maridus said and Nihlus nodded. He couldn't have explained it better.

"Major," the pilot called back. "we're approaching the main dig site but I'm picking up a power signature a few kilometers north."

Maridus looked to Nihlus, it was his show now. "Take us in." Nihlus said and stood pulling his shotgun to check his weapon again. The shuttle shook again and he grabbed the nearest thing to steady himself. Sidda followed his lead and checked her Phaeston then put it back on her back. He still didn't know what to do with her, she was a biotic but that did little to color his opinion of her. He didn't know her but Maridus trusted her and there were few people in the galaxy that Nihlus trusted Maridus being one of them.

* * *

When the shuttle touched down the three of them departed quickly allowing the shuttle to head back to the _Lante_. "_Lante_ this is Shepard, we've landed."

There was a momentary pause before a response. "Understood, Commander." Victus replied. "Keep me informed, _Lante_ out."

Nebewa was a desolate planet, not a shrub in site. The soild was dark brown and the stone wasn't much different. The color palette of the planet was dark and dreary, even the sky had a dark hue to it. Maridus was tapping several times on his Omni-tool trying to find the source of the mysterious power signal.

"You got it, Damar?" Nihlus asked and Maridus was silent for a moment as the omni-tool indicated where the signal was coming from.

"I'm picking it up but there seems to be some interference." He said sounding confused.

"Maybe it's an archeology team." Sidda suggested and the two Turians looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could be but I doubt it." Nihlus said. "Let's go check it out."

As they moved into the small ruin Sidda got her first up close look at ancient ruins. Mars had ruins but she never really got to see them first hand. She followed Maridus in and Nihlus was behind her, the ruin was probably a building at one point but there were only walls still standing. Inside the ruin, however, there was a passageway entrance.

"Whoa." Sidda stated looking around the high walls of what was left o the building, even in shambles it was a colossal building. She looked toward the passageway that Maridus had stopped at.

"Through here." He said and looked back at the other two. "Still got some interference though."

"Maybe that's the interference." Sidda stated and Maridus turned to look at her.

"What?" he asked and Sidda gave him a strange look.

"What do you mean 'what'? The interference you were talking about. Maybe its stone, power source could be underground." She reasoned and Maridus couldn't believe he had been so dense.

Nihlus smirked to Maridus. "Well, I'm glad be brought the human along seeing as how she's smarter than I am." Maridus stated and Nihlus chuckled along with Sidda.

"Been in the CIC too long, Damar? Let your skills get rusty?" Nihlus asked and received a glare from Maridus.

"Second in command of the _Lante_." Maridus boasted. "Special ops."

Nihlus cocked his head at his friends' vain attempt to one up him. "Council Specter. One of the best." He replied.

Sidda shook her head. "Really guys?" she asked putting her hands on her hips.

* * *

As they moved down the passage the room got a little darker but the Prothean architecture allowed for some natural light to come in. How that was possible was a mystery to her but she wasn't here to figure out how a 50,000 culture created light in their structures. The passage descended down at an incline to a round room about 10 feet in radius with another passage across from them, Sidda turned a circle as she walked looking around the room. It had high ceilings and seemed to be intact with the slots of light coming in from all directions.

"Wow." She stated amazed at how grand it looked.

"I'll say." Nihlus said agreeing with her comment.

As they moved toward the far wall and the passage opening the three of them heard an ominous groan from below them. They stopped and cautiously looked around them and Sidda looked down at her feet. The stone floor underneath them cracked and sank as if the weight of Nihlus, Maridus, and Sidda was too much for the million year old architecture.

"Oh, shit." Sidda and Nihlus said at the same time.

"Move!" Maridus shouted and they all tried to jump back toward the threshold they just passed through but it was pointless. The floor gave way and took them all with it.

The three of them went careening down a wide tunnel losing all orientation of which way was up. The ride was rough as they hit every bump, rock, and outcropping there was on the way by, their armor protected them from the inevitable road rash but the thick cloud of dust was suffocating. The armor was, however, no match for the ending impact.

The tunnel let out under them and gravity took over, Nihlus found the abrupt stop first, landing left shoulder first and acordianed up into a heap. Maridus was second and landed a little to the right of him feet first. He hit the ground just right and wound up adding insult to injury by rolling down the incline and smacking into the cavern wall. Last, was Sidda, she exited the tunnel in a twisted, contorted state first landing about where Nihlus was. The only noise heard after everyone came to a halt was the rushing rockslide of boulders, pebbles, stones, and about a ton of dirt that covered them as everything went silent. Various groans were heard as they all tried to determine if they were in one piece.

"Alright," Sidda began coughing out some dust and dirt. "who's not dead? Sound off."

Maridus grumbled and groaned as he peeled himself off the cavern wall rising to all fours. "I think I'm in one piece." He said also coughing out the mouthful of dirt he'd inhaled on the trip down.

It was pitch black and the only thing that could be seen was a dull orange glow from the lights on Maridus' armor. Sidda was in a twisted position on top of whatever it was she landed on. Everything hurt either from the ride down or the damn boulder she landed on. "Nihlus, you alive?" she asked the darkness, not sure where he was.

"Ow." She heard from somewhere close to her, actually very close to her.

"I'll take that as a yes." She replied trying to right herself. She twisted her body so she could use all fours to push herself up; still unsure what the hell it was she landed on that made her back and side hurt like hell. "What the hell did I land on?" she asked out loud as she pushed herself up, it didn't feel like rock.

"Me." Nihlus managed out as she had all her weight concentrated on his chest. "Get off."

Sidda pushed off his chest and rocked back into a straddle sitting position over what was probably his lower body. Maridus couldn't pass up and obvious snipe at his friend for that comment. "I wonder how many females said that to you, Nihlus."

Nihlus walked right into that one and had to admit that was pretty funny but his left shoulder hurt and he was still gathering his thoughts so he wasn't really in the mood. "Oh, bite me, Maridus."

Both Maridus and Sidda chuckled to his reply. "I think I lost my gun on the way down." She said trying to see through the dark. "Anyone got a light?" she was feeling around on both sides of her in cold dirt but didn't find anything.

Nihlus was still on his back and due to the way his shoulder felt he was content to stay that way for a little while, he felt the shotgun still in place and reached down for his sidearm. He pulled the pistol and clicked on the light. It cut through the darkness to show Sidda still straddling his waist. "Comfortable?"

"Very." She rebuffed following his idea and pulled her pistol clicking on the light.

She saw Maridus' Omni-tool light up and he tinkered on it for a few moments until it glowed bright and stayed that way, bright enough to see around them. Sidda rocked back to her heels and slowly stood up straight letting everything creak and crack back into place. Piles of dirt fell off her back and shoulders and she reached down with her right hand to help Nihlus back to his feet. He took her hand and she set back pulling him up. He grunted in pain letting go of her hand to cradle his left shoulder for a moment.

"You okay?" she asked and he brushed off the pain with a nod.

"Fine." He answered simply, looking around the cavern.

She didn't believe him but turned her attention to trying to find her Phaeston rifle lost somewhere in the loose soil. Maridus moved toward them and grabbed Nihlus' right arm activating his omni-tool, after a few seconds of tinkering with it like he did his own Nihlus' omni-tool glowed the same as Maridus'. The extra glow helped Sidda track down her rifle and she pulled it from the soil. She got to her feet and turned to Maridus offering him her left arm so he could rig her omni-tool to glow as well.

"Tap the Omni-tool twice and it'll stop glowing." Maridus informed and she nodded but Nihlus didn't respond to him. Maridus knew he heard him and it wasn't uncommon for him to not reply.

"Does anyone have any idea where the hell we are?" Nihlus asked looking around the cavern with the light on his pistol.

Sidda was wondering the same thing he just beat her to the punch. The temperature had certainly changed instead of warm desert air on her face it was chilly crisp air. She edged forward shining her light on the ground to see what was in front of them.

"Maridus to _Lante_." Maridus said trying to contact the ship; they had no idea where they were and extraction sounded like a good idea. "_Lante_ this is Maridus, please respond." He repeated and there was still no response from the comm. He grumbled and tapped a few more keys on his Omni-tool; he was the tech of the group so if anyone could figure out the issue with the comms it was him. "Comms are down." He said and then tapped the omni-tool some more. "And there's about 50 meters of rock between us and the surface."

Nihlus grimaced as he moved his left arm but bit it back and turned to investigate the area. "Great." He said and moved over to where they dropped out of the ceiling. He looked up at the opening they fell through trying to see if they could get out that way. "And I don't think we're getting out the way we came in."

"Hey, guys," Sidda called. She had worked her way away from the landing point down about 30 feet from them using her light as a guide. "come take a look at this."

Maridus and Nihlus made their way down to her; she was crouched down looking at something on the floor. "What's up?" Maridus asked and she shined the light on the floor.

"Man made floor." She stated brushing a layer of dirt away from the smooth masonary that was seen in the buildings above. "So to speak. Look at the walls, smooth, reinforced."

Nihlus and Maridus agreed. "Ancient Prothean city, they liked to build underground." Nihlus said. "Damar, do you still have a read on that power signal?" He asked and Maridus nodded. "Then let's go find it."

"Wait, we don't even know if we're gonna find anything down here." Maridus said as Sidda stood up looking to Nihlus then to Maridus. "We need to find out how we're going to get out of here."

"If the Protheans made this it's gotta come out on the surface somewhere and if there's a power source down here they had to get it down here somehow." Sidda said but the thought of going deeper underground didn't make Maridus feel comfortable at all.

Sidda looked at him and cocked her head. "What's wrong?" she asked reading the look on his face.

Nihlus turned to see why she had asked that question. Maridus stammered trying to answer her question, it was something he didn't like about himself but everyone had their quirks. "Well…I uhhh…"

Nihlus figured it out and scoffed. "You still have that issue, Damar?" he asked.

Sidda was confused and looked from Maridus to Nihlus. "What issue?"

"Damar doesn't like small spaces." Nihlus stated and Sidda scoffed to herself.

"Great, I fall through a floor, take a ride down a tunnel, and now I'm stuck down here with a claustrophobic Turian." She stated and they looked at her but there was one word neither one of them understood.

"Claustrophobic?" Nihlus asked.

"Human term: Fear of small spaces." She clarified quickly and looked back at Maridus.

They had it wrong. "I'm not afraid of small spaces, Guys, I just don't like being underground." He clarified and huffed.

"Okay fine, a Turian afraid of the underground, remind me to thank Adrien for a lovely weekend." She stated and Nihlus allowed a laugh.

"Don't blame him." Nihlus stated. "It was his idea to bring you along." He added pointing to Maridus.

Sidda looked over to Maridus as Nihlus moved away from them following the tunnel which could now be classified as a passageway. "Damar, are you okay?" she asked moving toward him. He really didn't look okay; he looked as uncomfortable as they came.

"No." he said bluntly. "No. I'm not. I really don't like being underground, Sid."

Sidda nodded but there was no choice. "I'm sorry, Man, but we need you." She said and patted his arm.

Maridus sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. Okay." He said gestured for her to go ahead of him.

"Just don't go bugo on me and freak out, okay." She asked and walked toward Nihlus to catch up with him.

Maridus would have liked to say he could comply with her request. "I make no promises, Sid."


	6. Chapter 6: Hellhound

_Author's Note: My apologies for how long this took. No rest for EMS. I also took a lot of care in writing this chapter because I wanted to make sure I wrote the characters properly. Especially Nihlus. Enjoy. _

**Mass Effect****  
**"Foreign Relations"

**Chapter Six: Hellhound**

It was pitch black everywhere their lights didn't touch. Nihlus kept a close eye on the ground to make sure they still had a place to step. Sidda was behind him using her interface to help figure out what was around her, her omni-tool was still lit up and the light on her Phaeston was on so the area immediately around her was pretty well lit. Maridus was behind her trying not to freak out about the fact he was underground, way underground.

"Damar," Nihlus said. "can you pinpoint the power signal?"

Maridus checked his omni-tool and shook his head. "I've got a reading on it but can't pin it down. It's big and got some weird interference…more than the stone."

"Alright, Alice, down the rabbit hole." Sidda muttered and Nihlus paused looking back at her with a puzzled expression. "It's a human thing, don't worry about it."

As they continued to walk down the path, Sidda relaxed a bit she still couldn't see much but the lights they had rigged allowed her to see Nihlus's back. "So, Nihlus, what's your story?" she asked and he cocked his head back to her.

"Story?" he asked almost absent-mindedly as he kept his attention on point. They didn't know what was down here and if it was part of his investigation he'd just as soon not talk.

"Yeah, how do you know Damar?" she asked trying to make conversation.

Nihlus didn't really want to talk. "We were assigned to the same unit." He replied quickly and quietly.

"Yep, see Nihlus here is a lot like you, Sidda, doesn't know when to follow orders. Stubborn as a Krogan." Maridus said and Nihlus shook his head.

"Good thing for you, Damar. Remember who saved your ass that day." Nihlus said.

"Right. Sid, Nihlus is a hell of a soldier but didn't fit with the Hierarchy's way of doing things. They told him to sacrifice a unit and he told them to go to hell. For which I am immensely grateful for saving my life." He explained, all the talk was annoying the hell out of Nihlus. "The Hierarchy, however, doesn't like it when orders are disobeyed. How many times did they transfer you for that?"

"Three." Nihlus answered now stopping until Maridus had finished telling his story.

"Then he was spied by a Specter and the rest is history." Maridus said.

Nihlus allowed him to tell the story but now it was time to work. "Yep. So now, if you two are finished can we get back to the mission at hand. We don't know what's down here and I'd rather not announce our presence to the entire the entire planet." Nihlus said and Sidda looked back to Maridus who snorted.

"By all means, Nihlus, lead on." He said and Nihlus turned to go back to his path finding. "And yes, he's always been a bit moody." He added hearing an audible groan from his friend.

"So how do you know Nov?" she asked letting her curiosity get the better of her and Nihlus grumbled turning toward her.

"Through him. I was there when he was bonded to his mate." Nihlus stated. "Now please, can we move along and not talk?" he hissed and Maridus chuckled at how irritable his friend was.

* * *

The farther they ventured into the underground Prothean ruin the colder it got. Sidda crinkled her nose a few times to keep blood flowing to the first part of the body that froze. It was cold enough for breath to be seen and for Sidda she was used to the cold; she could handle it better than the space Raptors from the intensely hot planet of Palaven.

About 10 minutes of walking in darkness they all saw a dim glow off of one of the passageway walls up ahead.

"That's uhh, quite literally the light at the end of the tunnel." Nihlus said and Sidda paused cocking her head to him.

"He cracked a joke." She muttered and Maridus let out an airy cackle.

"He does that every now and then." He stated and Sidda smiled following Nihlus.

The mood of the group changed to serious as something new was literally right around the bend. Nihlus crouched down hugging the wall as they approached the bend. The light got brighter so they turned off all extra lighting from themselves. Sidda changed walls and peered around the corner; she didn't see anything and gave a nod to Nihlus, Maridus moved up also to cover both of them. When Sidda decided there was nothing of danger that she could see she gestured to Nihlus. Nihlus stood and swung around the corner.

"Damar, how's that signal?" Sidda asked.

Maridus tapped a few times on his omni-tool. "Hasn't moved, but the signal is getting clearer…and stronger."

The three of them entered the room slowly; it was a lab, no doubt about that. Several consoles and a few exam tables were the dead giveaway.

Maridus scanned the room with his Omni-tool and determined the results. "This room is the source of the signal." He stated and kept his guard up.

Sidda didn't lower her rifle, something was wrong. Where were all the people? Who would put a lab under a Prothean ruin? Better question was why. "Most of these consoles are in sleep mode." She stated but didn't touch anything.

Nihlus was a little more settled than the other two and kept his shotgun lowered as he looked over the exam tables, something smelled wrong. He took in a whiff at exam table and the smell unnerved him. "Turian blood." He commented and Maridus turned to look at him as Nihlus ran his fingers along the edge of the table and came up with the remnants of dried Turian blood.

Sidda blinked a few times, she now had a bad feeling about all those abductions Nihlus was sent to investigate. "Yeah." She muttered and returned to her sweep over the tables and consoles on the other side of the room. She found tables with wicked looking, almost barbaric but precise, instruments on them. "Yeah, that's fucking creepy."

Maridus had the same sense as he approached a console tapping on it to wake it up. "This is bad, Nihlus, lets figure out what the hell this place is and get the hell out of here." He stated. "Give me a minute to hack the feed and capture the data." There was a pause for a few seconds as Maridus bypassed the security on the console and let his Omni-tool mine the computer for whatever data it could get. As they were pretty much lost in a Prothean ruin he began to search for a layout so they could find a way out.

"What are you doing?" Nihlus asked looking over his shoulder as Sidda took up position as a lookout.

"Trying to find us a way out." He said and Nihlus watched the screen as he worked quickly. "Definitely a covert research lab, don't know who's though." Sidda was ever vigilant keeping an eye open for whoever manned this place, the room they were in had only one way out so being on the ball looking for an ambush was the top priority for her. "Alright, I found an exit." He stated and she briefly looked over to him before a noise in the corridor brought her attention back to the entrance.

A familiar but unwelcome item flew from around the corner and landed in the soil. "Grenade!" she shouted seeing the grenade tossed at her feet. She scrambled from her position and tried to run far and fast in the other direction but the high explosive was close enough to her that when it went off the force sent her flying forward head first into a console and everything went black.

Her quick warning gave Nihlus and Maridus time to avoid the blast, the thick smoke and dust cloud by the door concealed their movements but the attacker's as well. It wasn't going to last forever and they knew that. Seconds later a slew of humans poured in Maridus and Nihlus found themselves embroiled in a fight that contained everything from biotics to bullets. Their unknown attackers were human, that was about all they knew and a large portion of them were biotics. Nihlus fired a few back to back shots from his shotgun into a biotic in front of him. The young man was no match for the shredder rounds that he had loaded and dropped face first into the dirt. These people were well prepared and it couldn't have been a coincidence that they attacked as soon as the three of them entered a room with only one way out. The option of fight their way out was abandoned as now they had been separated and couldn't communicate.

He used the butt of the shotgun to fend off an attacker while letting the weapon cool down but was then hit by an engineer's sabotage option overloading anything tech on him. That was followed by a biotic throw that tossed him back, he'd been hit with that before but this was different. Something else must have hit him because a searing pain coursed through his head and effectively incapacitated him.

Dazed and disoriented he landed on his back trying to find the other members of his team. He caught a glimpse of Sidda on the far side of the room but heard a god awful ruckus coming from the other side. Their unknown human attackers were having a hell of a time bringing down the highly skilled Tech Infiltrator, Damar. Nihlus's vision went blurry as he drifted out of the land of conscious thought.

Maridus was putting his Omni-tool to good use and hitting his attackers with an array of tech powers to sabotage weapons and shields. It was working and he was making minor headway. He may not have been the best at hand to hand combat but his skills served him when he had the need. As the last man standing he was swarmed and what little progress he made quickly disappeared. He sent a sabotage field out and that pretty much blanketed his enemy rendering their weapons pretty much useless. Facing a six on one mess, Maridus knew he was in some trouble but he was going to go down swinging no matter what. That was how he saw it; the humans were tired of the feisty Turian giving them hell.

The human to his immediate right moved to attack him with the butt of his now overheated weapon. Maridus grabbed his hand with his left hand and jerked him toward him sharply while raising his right elbow. The human was jerked right into Maridus's armor covered elbow crushing his windpipe in one hit. Maridus then used the dying man's body as weight and threw him into the group in front of him. It looked as if Maridus might actually get out of this but he was dealt a blunt hit to the back of his head under the horn crest. It was a hard hit that sent him to his knees and the blow was repeated twice more sending him face first into the dirt. His ears were ringing, that or his brain was trying to deal with the trauma of what was probably a rifle stock hitting him several times in the same place.

With Maridus finally subdued things around him went still. All he could see was feet, lots of them. "He's an exceptional specimen." He heard a woman state. He couldn't see faces from his dazed position in the dirt. "Place him on an examination table."

"What about the other two?" a man asked this one he vaguely saw, a human male, tall with dark skin and no hair.

"Take them to a holding cell. I want to question the human and we'll see if the other Turian has anything to offer after I'm finished with this one." The woman said as she knelt down in his line of sight. "Magnificent specimen." She said and he knew damn well that being dubbed a 'magnificent specimen' was a very bad thing.

* * *

Sidda's eyes slowly opened, she vaguely remembered exactly why the lights went out and felt a throb on the right side of her head. Her vision was blurry until she blinked several times trying to get her eyes and brain to clear up the connection, when it cleared she looked around. Stone walls that were just like the ones she'd seen earlier and a barred door didn't evoke much confidence in their situation. As she continued to scan the room her eyes fell on Nihlus looking down at her. He was leaning against the wall about a foot away from her.

"You alright, Commander?" he asked and she attempted to sit up. A shot of pain coursed through her head and neck and she quickly laid back down with a yelp.

She grumbled back pain and decided to be honest with the Turian. "No." she stated. "Help me sit up."

Nihlus complied quietly and moved next to her kneeling down taking her outstretched hand with his right hand and quickly pulled her up into a sitting position. The world spun as Sidda dealt with a major throbbing headache; because of her disorientation and sudden wave of dizziness she rested her head on Nihlus's chest. She felt his body tense, unsure of how to deal with the human.

As she lingered there his discomfort became apparent. "Umm…are you alright, Commander?" he asked and she fought off a little nausea.

"Yeah…" she replied not really caring about how unsure or uncomfortable he was. "yeah, just give me a minute." As her nausea spell passed she raised her head looking around. "Where are we?"

Nihlus relaxed now that she was off his chest and used his right hand to gently touch her face turning it so he could see the obvious dried blood and wound on the right side of her head. "We are in a holding cell." He said and determined her injury, while painful in its own right, wasn't life threatening.

Sidda finally realized they were missing someone and quickly scanned the room on all sides, regretting the sharp movements as soon as they happened. "Wait, where's Damar?" she asked and Nihlus sighed. She felt her insides tighten as he paused before answering. "_Please don't let him be dead."_ She thought to herself.

"I don't know where Damar is." He replied sounding unhappy with himself. This was his fault; he walked them into an ambush. "Last I saw of him he was fighting off a platoon."

Sidda was worried but they needed to figure out what happened. "I don't remember anything after the grenade hit, what the hell happened?"

Nihlus could only tell her what happened to him. "I don't know what they hit me with but it knocked me on my ass. My head still hurts."

"Do all Specter missions go sideways like this?" she asked and he scoffed.

"Not really. I usually work alone." He replied getting to his feet still favoring his left shoulder.

That didn't make her feel better. That meant that she was a bad luck charm on missions; hers or theirs. "Great, must be just me then." She muttered and Nihlus looked down at her.

"Hardly." He said. "I was the one who lead us into that mess."

Sidda heard the tone and pegged it either as frustration or irritation with a little shame. "Not your fault, Nihlus. I'll bet you anything that they didn't even know we were here until we started fucking around on that console." She stated and began to check herself over looking for what she still had. Obviously all her firearms were gone, her Omni-tool worked but there seemed to be some kind of field blocking its multiple functions.

"I usually work alone, Commander." He grumbled. "I told Victus I didn't need any help. He's still stubborn as a damn Shatha."

Sidda paused with a huff and looked up at him. "Nihlus, if you would have come down here alone you'd be where ever the hell Damar is right now and no one would have a clue." She said and smiled to herself as she found something on the inside of her left gauntlet.

Nihlus didn't know what to do with her. Still, she had a point but couldn't understand how she could be so positive about a situation that was royally fucked up. "Really?" he asked in a chastising tone. "Commander, we have no idea where Damar is, who these people are, no weapons, and we're stuck in this cell." Sidda heard all he said but only responded with a grunt making him cock his head to her. "Are you listening to me?"

Sidda nodded and held out her right hand. "Help me up." Nihlus reached down and took her hand effortlessly pulling her to her feet. When she didn't release his hand and stood very close to him he tensed looking down at her. "You're wrong about one thing." She said quietly. "We do have weapons." She said and discreetly presented him with the boot knife she had hidden in her left gauntlet. A knife in the hands of a Turian was beyond a lethal weapon and her biotics could level the playing field if they got the chance.

Nihlus gave her a slight nod as he took the knife and slid it down into his right boot, concealing it from anyone's view.

* * *

Maridus woke with a start, his brain still very much in tune with what had happened. He moved his head and felt pain in the back of his head under the horn crest. Then felt even more when he rested his head back on the chair. He looked around the room and saw a woman; she was a small woman of Asian descent with black hair and dark brown eyes. "My name is Tatiana Mason and you are in my facility." She stated, he recognized the voice as the one he heard just before he passed out. "Tell me your name." the woman asked as she looked down at Maridus seated in a medical examination chair. His hands and feet clamped down with solid metal restraints, probably magnetic.

Maridus said nothing to her, humans would give the customary name, rank, and serial number but Turians were different. They were trained to keep their mouths shut even through the worst torture imaginable. All Mason was going to get from him was a gleeful 'fuck you' and his silence reflected that.

"Ahh, silence the military trait." She commented. "No matter, they all start out that way."

Maridus was trained Turian Special Forces, as part of his training they went through actual torture and interrogation for several days. It was a brutal few days that included all forms of torture from archaic to brand new but it was all to prepare him for a situation like this. The last thing he was going to do was crack. He gave her a cold expression, the closest comparison was that of a bird of prey eyeing its target. The predatory look from him was disconcerting to Mason but she brushed it off.

"Your markings suggest you're from Palaven." She stated and got nothing from Maridus other than his piercing predatory glare. "Judging by your military prowess and the others you were with I'd say you are Special Operations, no rank, no insignia, high grade armor and weaponry. The fact that your team had a human on it is a little perplexing for me but I'll get to her. This also means there's a ship in orbit, that's unfortunate."

Maridus said nothing nor did he change his expression. He was gathering intel on them as they were trying to question him.

Mason gestured toward the door of the room he was in and a few more people in lab coats walked in. "Begin the procedure." She stated and looked at Maridus. "I want to question the human and the other Turian."

Maridus saw a scan commence and eyed the human manning the controls, his expression told the scientist one thing. Don't get too close. The vibe that the Turian was giving off was nothing short of 'I'll kill you the first chance I get.'

* * *

Sidda's head was pounding but if this was all the injuries she was going to sustain during this mission she was grateful, Cerrus put her through more pain than this. She sat on the cold floor leaning up against the wall trying to figure out how to get out of this. "Once we're pleasantly overdue the General will send a team down for us." She stated. In a way she was probably stating the truth but Nihlus couldn't help but hear that she was trying to convince herself of that fact.

"Probably, if he can find us." Nihlus replied. "We found this place by accident. He'll probably send a team down but just like we could only read the power source in the lab he probably has no idea where the hell we are." He stated and Sidda got the distinct impression that he knew Victus beyond his reputation and meeting on the _Lante_.

"How do you know Adrien?" she asked and Nihlus cocked his head to her surprised she called him by his first name. There was something between her and Victus that he could see.

"The General was my last commanding officer in the Military." Nihlus stated. "Tried to help me, Victus appreciates an officer who doesn't follow orders blindly."

Sidda understood that, Victus was a unique General who had the best command style she'd come across. She liked his command style before she fell in love with him but when bulk of the troops he commanded had nothing but praises to sing for him it tells an outside observer a lot about that officer. "Didn't go well?" she asked.

Nihlus shook his head. "On the contrary, Victus was the only commander I had that actually trained me." He stated and Sidda allowed a half smile. "Not long after that I was approached by a Specter named Saren. He freed me from the Hierarchy's endless restrictions. That's how I became a Specter."

His attention shifted sharply to the cell door and Sidda knew that look, he heard something. "Someone's coming." He said and she got to her feet as quickly as she could without help.

An Asian woman and two men appeared at the barred door. She looked at Nihlus and then to Sidda, she was more concerned with why a human was working with the Turians and started with that. "Who are you? And why are you working with Turians?" she asked looking at Sidda.

Nihlus knew how he would answer that but kept his mouth shut. "You first." Sidda hissed in her reply.

The woman gave her a glare that didn't affect Sidda in the least. "My name is Tatiana Mason."

Sidda wasn't going to give up information. This place with a research facility, anyone could see that, and the research was being conducted on Turians by humans. Sick, but there were still factions of Humans that wanted to retaliate against Turians for the First Contact War. "I'm sorry." She replied. "I forget."

Mason was growing tired of the lack of cooperation from them and looked to the other Turian. She knew his face, hell she knew the human's face too. She couldn't place Sidda's but the Turian's identity dawned on her. "Specter Kryik." She stated realizing that was, indeed, the Specter that had been dogging her work. "Welcome to my facility, Specter, it's nice you finally caught up with me." Sidda looked to Nihlus then back to the Mason. "Let's show, Specter Kryik, what we're doing here. Bring them both."

Sidda looked to Nihlus and they both had a mind reading cession deciding now was not the time to try and affect their escape. Nihlus believed that Sidda's biotics would be more than capable of getting them free of whatever guards.

* * *

The CIC on the _Lante_ but quiet but Victus was pacing it had been far too long for the ground team to be out of contact. He knew it was a Specter operation and Nihlus was in command but even his former subordinate knew the importance of maintaining some semblance of regular contact.

"Zara, how long have they been out of contact?" he asked on his 100th pace.

Ruvio sighed and looked over at him. "10 hours."

He sighed with an irritated growl. "Get Cerrus and Nov up here." Ruvio nodded and did as he asked as Victus continued to pace.

About 5 minutes later Nov and Cerrus stepped off the lift and onto the CIC, they had both been summoned which meant a handful of things but nine times out of ten it was related to a mission that went sideways. They both knew that Sidda and Maridus were on a mission with Nihlus so something must have gone wrong. "General." Cerrus greeted.

Victus turned and looked at the two of them. "Ground team's been out of contact for 10 hours. Take your teams down and start a search. Try to establish contact."

Nov and Cerrus nodded to their commanding officer and left the CIC.

* * *

They were escorted by two guards and Mason into the room they had been ambushed in. Maridus was in strapped to the examination chair with a contraption of probes all around his head and there was a semi detailed scan of his brain on the monitor. The only hiccup to their escape was the fact that they were both handcuffed something they'd need to find their way around at some point.

"Observe, Specter Kryik, once we are finished mapping your cohort's brain we will start the same on you." Mason stated as a charge went through Maridus's brain, to his credit the Turian didn't even make a peep despite the obvious pain he was in. The monitor above him lit up and more areas became detailed. "What better than to have a council Specter under our control." She added and Nihlus changed the angle of his head to give Mason the same predatory glare of 'I'm gonna tear your heart out' that Maridus had given her earlier.

Mason brushed off the look from Nihlus and looked over to Sidda. She was still the question mark. Why was she here? Who was she? She was very familiar but Mason couldn't place the face. "Now, as for you, who are you and what are you doing here with two Turians?" Sidda remained silent as she tried to figure out what to do or even what to say.

"Ma'am," the scientist controlling Maridus's 'personal hell' stated as he too was interested in whom the human female was. "that's Cdr. Shepard." He stated and Mason looked sharply from him and back to her.

"Cdr. Shepard," Mason began in a mixed tone of surprise and respect, she knew the face was familiar and now she knew why. "the Hero of Elysium. Ordinarily I would be pleased to meet you but my second question remains. Why are you here with two Turians?"

Maridus closed his eyes to regain his composure after the last shock and opened them to catch the gaze of Nihlus. Nihlus was a calm operator and had a plan in the works; hurdle number one was communicating that plan to Sidda and hurdle number two was not dying in the process. Maridus trusted Nihlus and hoped they had time to hatch a plan while he was stuck being probed.

"I was spying on them." Sidda stated making Nihlus turn his attention to her. "I was placed on a ship with them as part of an interspecies relations improvement mission. I was embedded as a spy." Nihlus hoped to hell she was telling a lie otherwise she was going to be the first one he killed. He didn't know her very well so, to him, anything was possible. "I can tell you where to get an army for your experiments."

"You bitch." Maridus stated and received a shock to the head again, again nothing louder than a grunt.

Mason looked from the Turians to Sidda. "Really?" she asked, something wasn't quite right but if Shepard was on their team it was too good to pass up. All she could think were the resources that could be available to her if she had Shepard as an asset.

Sidda decided to gamble, if this worked she'd have to lay waste to the entire area. "There's a military ship in orbit I can tell you where and how to board it undetected." She was banking on Mason's over confidence. "Uncuff me and I'll hand you that ship on a silver platter."

Mason was thinking. "We did detect a ship in orbit and its movements do suggest its military…" she thought out loud. "Uncuff her."

Sidda's expression didn't change. "When I get out of here, I'm killing you first, Human." Nihlus growled and Sidda really hoped he was playing along with her ruse. She noted the guard with a rifle by Nihlus that needed to be taken out first then the bastard electrocuting Maridus. Apparently, these people overlooked the fact that Sidda was a very powerful biotic and didn't need a weapon to fight.

Sidda's guard took her cuffs off and turned away from her as Sidda returned her hands to a clasped, relaxed position behind her back. "So who are you?" she asked.

"We are humanity's spear." Mason replied and turned to her noting Sidda's current posture wasn't relaxed, friendly or even that of a potential ally.

Sidda balled up her right hand and her body flashed biotic blue. "Not for long." Sidda stated in a low tone. Before Mason could react, Sidda sent a warp to her right hitting Nihlus's guard then grabbed the barrel of her guard's gun pushing it upward so the rounds he fired off went into the ceiling. She hoped that being out of the cell got rid of whatever damping field was blocking the multiple uses of the Omni-Tool and attempted to activate the melee blade on the omni-tool, it unfolded and she drove the weapon into the side of his neck.

Now there was a fight on, only this time they were not going to get caught off guard. Nihlus's hands were still bound behind his back but he could still fight, he went after the Mason ducking and dodging her punches and scored a hard kick to her face sending her sprawling back. When she didn't move he turned his attention to the rest of his surroundings. There was an alarm going off so it was a good bet that more bad guys were on the way.

The scientist who had been working on Maridus threw his hands up, surrendering. Sidda's body was glowing blue and she had a warp hit primed and ready to go. She paused as he surrendered to her. "On your knees." She ordered and he complied quickly. "Nihlus, get over here." He moved toward her as her omni-tool activated. "Turn around." He gave her a puzzled expression but turned feeling her grab his right arm pulling them away from his body. She activated the blade and drove it through the link on the cuffs.

He grunted and winced in pain as what she did yanked sharply on his left arm but found his hands free. "Nice." He replied and pulled the knife from his boot and collected a rifle from the ground. "Guards are no doubt on the way. We gotta go." He said and headed toward the door to keep an eye out for more bad guys.

Before he got there a guard came through the door and rolled under a burst fired from Nihlus's gun. The guard's omni-tool lit up and hit Nihlus with Sabotage making his weapon freeze, Nihlus cursed and went hand to hand. He moved faster than humans did and got close to the guard grabbing his shotgun twisting it away. The guard howled in pain as the force Nihlus used to rip the weapon away broke his arm but this guard was tenacious and activated the melee blade on his omni-tool. Nihlus did the same but ducked away from him dodging his slashes in quick, fluid movements and crouched down and swept his right leg to knock the human off his feet then drove his the omni blade into his face killing him. Another guard made his way around the corner and Nihlus knocked his rifle to the side driving the boot knife into his neck.

Watching the Nihlus fight was like watching a bloody ballet, he was smooth and fluid in his motions with lethal accuracy. She saw her attraction to Turian's building beyond Victus but turned her attention toward Maridus. "Alright, let's get you out of there." She stated and tapped some keys on the chair. The metal bindings released and Maridus quickly shoved the probes away from his head and got to his feet. Buzzing from the shocks and royally pissed off he backhanded the scientist who was at the helm of his interrogation or whatever the hell it was supposed to be. Maridus his him hard enough to knock him out or even kill him and Sidda raised her eyebrows. "We need a way out of here, Damar."

Maridus turned to the console and tapped several keys. "I can hack into the facilities data stream…wait…" he started and then stopped as the screen distorted. "Someone's erasing the files remotely." He finished and started tapping more keys to try and stop it or at least capture as much data as he could with his Omni-tool. The console electrified and went dark and both Sidda and Maridus looked toward the other side of the room.

There Mason stood, bloody face and all with an active omni-tool. "You've turned your back on humanity, Commander." She accused as Nihlus opened fire on bad guys coming down the hall.

Sidda was tired of this and sent a throw into her sending her back into the wall hard. She moved up toward her and grabbed her tunic pulling the semi broken body closer to her face. "Who the hell are you?" she barked.

Mason's body was damaged beyond repair now; the impact with the wall back first broke a lot of things. "We fight to advance humanity." She managed out. "Cerberus…lives." She finished as life left her body.

Nihlus was picking off various guards as they poked their heads around the corner. This place couldn't have had too many people working at it. "Let's go!"

As Sidda turned away from Mason's body she heard a beep from the body. Sidda turned to see the dead woman's omni-tool lit up and beeping, the beeping was increasing quickly and both she and Maridus deduced that was a bad thing. "Now, that sounds like some sort of a count down." She said and Maridus agreed.

"Yep. Come on." He said as they scrambled away from it quickly. "Nihlus, cover!"

The beeping became a solid tone and Mason's body exploded sending Sidda and Maridus off their feet. The concussion of the blast shoved Nihlus right out of his cover and into the hall where he was trying to avoid being shot by the guards at the other end of the hall. He collected himself and backtracked quickly into cover. "What the hell was that?" he asked as Sidda took cover next to him.

"A belated 'suicide' bomb." She replied with a cough as the dust was thick enough to choke someone.

"The way out's that way." Maridus stated pointing in the opposite direction that Nihlus was shooting.

Sidda nodded. "Alright, let's do it." She stated and their move was interrupted by the ground shaking. Boulders from the walls and ceilings began to fall and she cursed. "This is getting worse! This is fucking getting worse!"

"Come on!" Maridus barked and the three of them started to haul ass for the exit, the tunnels collapsing behind them and in front of them. Maridus's memory of the exit when he first looked at the console was perfect and they raced to it quickly.

The concussion from the blast caused the ancient ruins to collapse and the once thought to be sturdy halls were crumbling on top of them. A good sized rock landed between Maridus and Sidda making her jump backward causing Nihlus to slam into her. He put his right arm around her waist and practically picked her up moving her over the piles of rock coming down on their heads. Maridus came through in finding the exit and hit the button by the door.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" he yelled quickly and the three of them scrambled in and kept running up an incline toward the daylight chased by a thick cloud of dust. The three of them sprinted to safety and over a bank of rocks that helped to conceal the entrance. They stopped on the other side of the rock bank and looked behind them as the dust cloud rose into the atmosphere.

The two Turians were fine but Sidda was a little out of breath and put her hands on her knees breathing heavy. "Everyone okay?" Nihlus asked and Sidda stood up straight putting her hands on her head to help keep her sides from aching.

"Yeah." She replied and looked to Maridus; he had the worst of this whole thing. Only he knew exactly what they did to him but judging by his reaction toward the scientist it pissed him off. "You okay, Damar?"

He nodded slightly. "Fine." He replied but his tone reflected the fact he was still a bit pissed about being electrocuted who knows how many times. "_Lante_, this is Maridus. Come in."

Victus practically dove on the comm. "This is Victus, where the hell have you been? We've been trying to comm you for the past 6 hours."

Maridus figured that and shrugged. "Yeah, I was a little tied up." He replied. "We're ready for extraction."

Victus had worked with Maridus for 10 years and heard the tone of his voice. Things didn't go as planned on this mission. "Understood. Cerrus and Nov are already planet side. We have a lock on your comm signal we'll have them to you momentarily."

"Understood." Maridus said and the channel cut off as he turned his attention to Sidda and sat down on a boulder. "The General's gonna be pissed at you coming back injured again."

Sidda gave him a sardonic expression as she touched the dried blood on her head. "Oh, this is nothing." She replied.

"I'm sure he'll have no problem nursing you back to health." He stated and Nihlus turned around cocking his head to Maridus' statement. The implication left little to the imagination but it would explain her candor while talking about Victus.

"Damar, remember that I promise I made to you after the shenanigans on _Zinith_?" she asked and Maridus chuckled.

"Relax, Sid, he's a Specter, professional investigator I bet this month's pay he's already figured out you're sleeping with the General." He stated and Sidda contemplated killing him.

"Oh my god, Damar, what is wrong with you?" She exclaimed. "I should have left your ass in there. For Special Forces you really can't keep a fucking secret."

Nihlus snorted to her obvious friendship with Maridus and decided to help his friend live through the next 30 seconds. "Commander, it wasn't really that hard to figure out, so I think killing him would be counterproductive." He said. "Victus is a lucky man and he was right, you're a hell of a soldier."

By the time the shuttle got there Sidda, Maridus, and Nihlus were all sitting down, Nov and Cerrus stepped on the shuttle and looked at the other three. "Spirits, what happened to you guys?" Cerrus asked seeing the human blood all over Nihlus, the blood on the side of Sidda's head, and the tired beaten down look of Maridus.

"Let's just say the mission encountered a few 'snags'." Sidda said and Nov extended his hand to her helping her to her feet.

"That looks like it hurts." He said gesturing to the wound on her head.

"It did a few hours ago…now it just feels like any other ass kicking I get in the Training Room." She replied and Nov chuckled.

* * *

Now that the adrenalin was just about worn off the three of them were for the most part quiet during the shuttle ride up to the ship. Nihlus was seated next to Sidda and looked over at her taking the knife from his boot. "Here." He said holding it by the blade. "Thank you."

"I've never seen anyone fight like you did." She stated taking the knife from him. She could feel the dried blood on it, human blood, and the blood all over him from his hand to hand fight. "Magnificent. It was impressive to watch." Nihlus allowed a small snort to her compliment. "I've had this since Elysium, killed a couple of Batarians with it before we made it to the spaceport. But this knife in your hands was more than a weapon. Keep it." She said handing it back to him. "A gift." Nihlus took it and nodded to her.

* * *

In the medical bay all three members were being checked over by Holum, especially Maridus. Several brain scans and observation were on the books for him so he checked over Sidda finding nothing more than a cut, mild concussion and a hell of a headache. Nihlus was a little different. Pulling the Specter's armor off was a painful marathon event as the arm he insisted was 'fine' was nowhere near fine. By the time they had returned to the ship he could barely move his left arm which was a bit of a concern for Holum. Getting his armor off required a little self control from Nihlus and patience from everyone else. While the medical staff worked on Nihlus's arm and ran a full check on Maridus Sidda headed out to give Victus a report on what she could. She couldn't speak for Nihlus's mission but she could tell him what happened.

The lift opened at the CIC and Victus was actually waiting for it on the CIC. Nothing was said as he saw her and stepped onto the left. The door closed and he pressed the desired level, he allowed the lift to move then hit the hold button.

The lift stopped and Sidda looked up at him. "Are you alright?" he asked turning toward her and she turned to face him. He saw the bruise on the side of her head and couldn't help but feel angry. He didn't like seeing her hurt and would be more than willing to kill anyone who tried to hurt her.

"I'm fine, Adrien." She said and he traced his right hand down her left check careful to avoid what was likely a very tender spot on her temple.

"I, uhh, I was worried…when we couldn't contact you." He said quietly and she stepped toward him.

"I know." She replied putting her hands on his chest rising up to her toes giving him a kiss. Kissing was kind of a new concept for him but it didn't mean he didn't enjoy it.

"My quarters tonight." He said and she smiled with a nod then backed away from him returning to a professional look and Victus hit the hold button to make the lift resume. "So what happened?"

Sidda sighed. "Well, that's a story." She said and he looked over at her. "Let's see there was a cave in, an ambush, capture, escape, the ensuing battle, a bomb, another cave in…"

Victus shook his head to the unusual missions she went on. All of them began benign but none of them ended that way. "So, pretty much business as usual for you."

Sidda snorted to his comment and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Damar was interrogated or tortured I'm not sure but I don't know exactly what they did to him."

Victus wanted to know what she meant by 'they'. "They?"

"You'll have to talk to Nihlus about that. His mission." She replied. "It was a human operation but...Damar salvaged what data he could."

* * *

The lift opened at the level they wanted and she and Victus made their way toward the Medical Bay. Nov was leaning against the wall by the door and stood up straight when he saw Victus.

The situation in the medical bay was pretty much as it was when Sidda left. Maridus was resting in on an exam bed while hooked up to several monitors and Nihlus was shirtless as Holum checked over his damaged arm.

"Doctor." Victus greeted but Holum didn't look away from the screen he was looking at.

"General." Holum replied.

Victus looked to Nihlus who looked like he was in pain but held his left arm like it was injured. "Status?" he asked Holum.

Holum took in a deep breath and looked away from his screen. "A mild concussion for the Commander, Maridus is under observation but appears to be okay. Specter Kryik, however, broke his left shoulder in two places." He said and gestured to the image of Nihlus' shoulder. "See here and here. His armor contained the damage and protected it from further injury. "

Victus looked away from the screen and over to Nihlus. He smelled human blood before seeing it on his armor. "Nihlus, whenever you're feeling up to it I'd like to see you for a debriefing." He stated and Nihlus nodded.

* * *

Victus downplayed the worry in the lift but the truth was he was on the verge of losing his mind when they lost contact with her; it was all he could do to maintain a professional appearance to his crew and not give away how in love with her he was. He had the chef make levo food and deliver it to his quarters. It wasn't an unusual event for the General to hold an Officer's Mess, most of the crew figured that he enjoyed the company of Commander Shepard. A few rumors about their relationship flew but on a Turian ship spreading rumors about a commanding officer had dire consequences.

After eating a very good dinner Sidda was relaxed but tired and sat on the couch with him. She put her head on his chest and drifted off to sleep quickly as he lightly ran his hand through her hair repeatedly. The gentle touch from him put her to sleep within minutes. He looked down at her asleep on his chest and allowed a smile. He was content to sleep there if it meant not disturbing her.

* * *

The next day Nihlus, Sidda, and Maridus were all in the conference room for the debriefing. Victus looked at the three of them but mainly to Nihlus, this was his operation and it went topsy-turvy in more ways than one.

"So, you're telling me that a Human facility or organization was experimenting on Turians?" Victus asked. "Why?"

Nihlus looked back at to Maridus leaning against the table. "I analyzed what data I was able to capture before Mason deleted all the files. There are references to an organization called Cerberus and Hellhound but nothing real specific." He said. "Don't really know what they were after in experimenting on Turians." He said and they all looked to Sidda.

"Commander, any ideas?" Victus asked.

Sidda shrugged. "I've never heard of them." She said. "They mentioned 'control', seemed pretty happy to have the opportunity to control a Specter."

He believed her answer and looked to Nihlus. "It's you're call, Nihlus."

"I'll take it to the Council." He said and Victus looked over at Maridus who still didn't look like himself.

"Damar, you okay?" he asked and Maridus nodded.

"Yeah. Holum said I'd have a headache for a few days." He stated and Victus had gotten an update on his condition earlier.

"Alright. The facility was destroyed?" Victus asked and Sidda snorted.

"The facility came down on our heads so I'd say yeah." She stated and Victus was satisfied with the debriefing.

"Okay, dismissed. Nihlus, we're heading back to Turian space. Anywhere you need to go?" he asked and Nihlus gave a nod.

"Taetrus." He said and Victus had no problem with that.

* * *

When they arrived at Taetrus, wanted on an orbital station not the planet so the _Lante_ sidled up to a docking cradle and locked in. Nihlus was at the airlock having said his farewell's to Maridus and Victus but missed Sidda. She wanted to catch him before he left and found him at the airlock.

"Nihlus." She called and he turned to his name being called.

"Commander." He said as the airlock equalized pressure.

"I almost missed you, sorry." She said and he shook it off and noticed the knife she gave him tucked into his left gauntlet like hers was. "Make sure you put that thing to good use. It's saved my life a few times."

Nihlus appreciated the gift, it spoke volumes about her. "I will. Thank you again." He said and there was a silence and she tried to make the awkward silence disappear by leaving. "Commander, one last thing," Nihlus said stopping her. "the data that Damar captured from the facility, here's a copy of it." He said and handed her an OSD. "I thought the Alliance might want to see it."

Sidda was surprised but took the disc with a nod. "Thanks. I'll make sure this gets to them." She said and Nihlus saw the attraction that Victus had to her. She didn't fit the human stereotypes and she was a hell of a soldier.

"It's been a pleasure, Commander." He said extending his still sore left arm.

"Likewise, Nihlus." She replied shaking his hand with a firm grip. "Take care of yourself."

"You too, Commander." He said and headed out the airlock.


End file.
